Era of Souls: Guardians Eclipse
by Time Mage
Summary: Sequel to my Battle City story. Nearly two years since the tournament, Tenken Arashi has determined that the time has come to gather his forces. Time to see what Tenken's sister can do.
1. ProloguePrelude to Darkness

Here we go again people. I said I'd have it up by October 23, and here it is. Exactly two years ago from today, I posted chapter one of _Return to Battle City: Wandering Souls_. Here's the sequel, and it's got everything you need. A new story, full of new duels, new villains, and our fates in the hands of a group of inexperienced youths Now, let's get started!

**Era of Souls: Guardians Eclipse**

**Prologue- Prelude to Darkness**

Seemingly amidst the clouds stood a massive structure. It's design had no specific tie to any particular culture from history. If one approached it from the front, they would first have to pass through a massive rectangular gate of some type of stone. There was a courtyard leading to the main structure, a temple of sorts, that seemed to be connected to a secondary and smaller temple. Woods grew both within and without the walls. A third structure existed in the back, it's purpose unclear. If one were to explore the temple itself, they would eventually find their way into a dungeon of sorts.

These walls seemed void of life. Any trespasser would be put on edge with anxiety, expecting some specter of sorts to lunge out at them when they least expected it and to rob them of their precious life.

Time had worn this building down. Although physically it was still most impressive and seemed to stand as a monument of some great and lost people. But time had robbed it of the great and vibrant spirit of those who must have once crowded its halls. Now those same halls echoed with the lightest footstep.

In the center of the larger of the two temples was a chamber, whether it was circular was debatable, thanks to the plethora of rectangular arches that lined its walls, their shapes giving it a rather rigid appearance. In the center was a small pool of sorts, no more than four feet wide, emitting a blue smoke of some sort. And standing at that pool was a man.

He was young, somewhere in his early twenties. His hair was long, black and tied together loosely somewhere near the base of his spine. He was dressed in a black top that seemed to be loosely styled after a Japanese haori, with a pair of thick and baggy pants and leather boots. His eyes were cold and blue, staring harshly into the swirling water, then up at one of arches, as if it were a window into some other reality and he were watching it to try and find some missing detail.

'_The Citadel of Chaos. Such a crude name the mortals have given it over the millennia.'_ he scoffed to himself. _'It was only called that because it is the point at which all other dimensions intersect, a point wherein chaos could erupt from. It originally had no name, but humans must catagorize everything, and they feel a need to put everything into myths. If only they knew._' he clenched his fists tightly. _'But now, they're in a state where they can't accept the facts of magic and reality.'_

"Tenken." a femanine voice spoke from behind, it's voice resonating from the only one of the arches that didn't glow with some ethereal light, but instead just extended into a passageway. The Guardian did not turn around or move his eyes, but the young woman knew he was listening. "We're all that's left of the Guardians. And there's a darkness coming."

"I know it is." Tenken replied. "But we're not alone. True, we exist alone within these walls, but we do have allies. They're strong, although inexperienced. But we'll have to change that if Order is to survive. Our family has maintained the balance for over seven thousand years between the dimensions, and now, someone new has risen to try and tip the scales once again. Need I remind you of the chaos that erupted when the Guardians were unprepared more than seventy years ago? I swear I wont repeat our father's mistake."

"So, you're going to rally them?" the girl asked.

"Yes, Asagi. It is time I brought them together. It is time to tap into the treasures of knowledge Enzeru holds." he finally declared, turning around. "And it's time he met the other Guardians. Will you be coming with me, sister?"

"You are my senior." she admitted as she walked closer, though remained in the shadows. "And I am a Guardian. If you wish for me to join in the battle and fulfill my duties, then I will."

Nodding, Tenken turned away from his sister and back to the pool, continuing the meditate. After nearly another hour of this, he jerked his head around and tilted his eyes up, as if he could stare past the rock and at something in the beyond.

"Time to go." he declared. Asagi nodded, failing to notice the faint panic and fear in his voice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, in a temple that emitted an aura of pure darkness sat a man in a black cloak, his features obscured. All that could be seen was his jaw, which was twisted up in a faint smirk. If one could make out his eyes, it was certain that they would see a glint of malicious joy. Turning to look down from his elevated throne, he took into view a group of five robed figures who seemed to have formed from the shadows themselves.

"The time is at hand. Gather soldiers to serve under you. Crush the Guardians. Take their powers. It is time that we completed what has been started time and time before." Each head nodded, and then faded away, returning to the shadows.

"And soon," the ominous man smiled, once again alone. "And soon I will be a god."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a village in Japan there was a house that was rather large for Japan in these broken days. Unlike a century before, when houses had to be small to accommodate for the massive population, houses were now small simply because it was nearly impossible to get anything else, ever since the world had crumbled. Governments had become lost, companies folded, millions died, and chaos had erupted.

In this large house lived a young man, nearing twenty years or so. His hair was a flowing, blue-silver. His eyes were the most mystifying part of him, though. The left one was a bale blue, while the right was brown, a mutation of some sort.

Enzeru Eitai, commonly known as Kai Kaethan, lived alone in the house his parents had left him when they were brutally murdered, an event Enzeru had come to peace with over a year ago at the Battle City Tournament, from which he had emerged champion. As a result, he often found himself engaged in duels with those who would seek to either take his title, or the occasional noble opponent trying simply find a worthy opponent, as he was in now.

"Vaun, it's true that your Gearfried the Swordmaster (2600/2200) is a most impressive opponent, especially when equipped with your United We Stand and two Blue Knight Legion Tokens (500/500) in play, setting Gearfried at five thousand. However, it is those same tokens that will act as a weakness to you." Enzeru laughed.

"I don't think you're one to reprimand me for having tokens, granted the two Eternity Tokens (700/500) on your field and one card in your hand." the boy samurai laughed back. Neither of them was truly fighting with his all. They much more so enjoyed these gentlemanly engagements in which they could push each other without having to threaten one another.

"I will. I sacrifice both of my tokens for Aeon Magician (2500/1500) in attack mode. And since my Eternity Tokens have been removed from the field, I am allowed to draw a card for each one." Now holding two cards, Enzeru had a powerful monster on the field, but not strong enough, even to defeat Vaun's Gearfried at it's base strength.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"They're still at it, aren't they Zetsui?" a young feminine voice asked of the elderly butler within Enzeru's house. Turning around, the elderly man bowed in reverence, as was his practice.

"Miss Akira. Welcome." he greeted the brunette as she dropped her bag, which he quickly snatched up and put away in a closet. "Shall I tell Master Kai that you're in?"

"No, it's alright. I have some things to do. Let them distract each other for as long as they'd like." she responded, walking into the kitchen and pulling on an apron. "Don't let him know I'm here."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later, Enzeru walked into the house, wiping sweat from his brow. "Zetsui, is my bath ready?"

"Of course Master Kai. As usual, your evening bath is ready and waiting." the butler responded, again bowing. "Dinner will be ready when you finish."

"Thanks. It smells wonderful." Enzeru finished, walking up the stairs. It was odd how he referred to himself as Enzeru, but he had not told anyone else about that identity, and so was still called by the name his parents had given him, Kai.

Stepping into the tub, he relaxed, letting the warm water soak into his worn body, letting the details of the day drift by.

Walking down stairs twenty minutes later, dressed in clean clothes and feeling refreshed, he walked into the dining room, the table dressed with a number of foods. However, the real shock when he saw who was sitting at the table. It was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Sadly, he lacked the courage to enter into a relationship with her, unable to tell what type of affection she held for him, whether it be that of a sibling, a friend, or a potential lover. In the end, he was unable to bypass his old barriers and let her into his life.

"Etsu..."

_To Be Continued..._

There you have it. I know it was weird and short, but I was tired and rushed to get it up in time. So, what is to come? And who were those people in the shadows?

Also, NO ORIGINAL CHARACTER SUBMISSIONS UNLESS I SPECIFICALLY ASK YOU!

_It's been nearly two years since Battle City, and Vaun Hiten has grown in power and skill exponentially. Now freed from his search for revenge, Vaun must search for a new sense of purpose, and it's possible that a young man in black clothes could offer him just that._

_Next Time-Night of the Knights_


	2. Night of the Knights

Here we are again people. The first actual chapter of this story.

On a side note, I would like to inform those few of you who do not know that there is a group fic being written by myself, Seeker of the Soul, and WolfGeneral. It is posted with WolfGeneral's story, and is entitled _Between Black and White_. It's really cool, especially since we have demons in it. Check it out.

Nothing much else to say, so let's get it on!

Also, I forgot to do this last time: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. I don't even own a fraction of the stock. Hell, I don't even own all of the cards that will be used in this story. Sad, isn't it?

**Chapter One-Night of the Knights**

Wraping a blanket around his body, Vaun Hiten leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. It was a full days walk from Kai's village to the martial arts temple he had inherited nearly two years before. Normally he would stay the night at Kai's when he made these visits to his friend, but he had been made aware suddenly that Etsu Akira would be spending the evening with Kai, and he had no intention of burdening the silver-haired boys thoughts.

Indeed, although Vaun was only seventeen years old, his intuition had revealed to him early on that Etsu had deep feelings for Kai, and that Kai, if he would let himself, had feelings for her. It was best that Vaun do everything he could to remove potential distractions from Kai when necessary.

Shifting a bit, Vaun bent his head forward, the hilt of his katana quasi-parallel to his cheek, the sheath tip rested in the ground and the length of the blade running along his bent legs. Clearing his head of reality as a whole, he nodded off to sleep in seconds.

"Etsu, I had no idea you could cook like this." Kai admitted to the young woman across the table from him, his tone partially that of surprise and partially revealing his attempt to make conversation, a skill he had a great length to go before it was honed. "I mean, I always assumed you could cook, but this is phenomenal; quite possibly better than anything I could make."

"You're that good?" she asked, shoveling a bit more rice into her mouth.

"Well, when I went on that junior archeologist dig in Egypt five years ago I met with people from around the world. You know how I am: I can't help but learn. So I made it a point of learning a new technique everywhere I went. European food is needlessly messier than what we get in Asia, but they do have many excellent methods." he explained, then cut himself off.

'_Don't focus on yourself!'_ he berated himself. _'She needs to feel like the center of attention.'_ Placing his chopsticks down on his now empty plate, he looked back up to the brunette. "You know Etsu, you know so much about me, but I often feel like I don't know a great deal about you." he began, trying his hardest to sound casual.

"There's really not much to learn about me." she said, off-handedly.

"That's what I say about myself, yet you seem to find great fascination with my life anyway." Kai countered with a bemused smile. Etsu blushed slightly. Whether it was because she was embarrassed by the fact that Kai knew about how much interest she had taken in his life, or because she found his logic game entertaining was unsure.

Opening her mouth, she stopped suddenly as music began playing. Glancing to her left where the open, wood-floored living room was, she giggled slightly, thankful to Zetsui for helping with her plans.

Closing her mouth to regain her calm, she turned back to Kai and asked, "Do you know how to dance?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elsewhere, on the island of Kyushu, Japan, in a city that had long since lost its name, wandered a young man, probably in his mid-twenties, a leather jacket wrapped around his torso while blue jeans covered his legs. Spitting onto the ground by his side, he cursed for no apparent reason than for the sake of hearing his own voice.

"Damn this city sucks!" he transitioned from a list of course words to actual dialogue. "It's falling apart, no ones fixing it, and no one can leave. Hell, even after raiding a few houses, I still don't have the needed capital to get out of here."

"How about I give you a way out, permanently." a cold voice spoke behind him, shooting chills all throughout his body. There was something about that voice. It was cold, but by no means calm. It was full of the most intense and focused rage imaginable, and it was directed at this leather clad man. But it went beyond that. There was something...familiar about that voice. Not only in that it was one that he was sure he knew, but because it was as if a part of him had been expecting it to come, that it was inevitable.

"Who...Who are you?" he stuttered, fear gripping at him, despite his usually arrogant attitude.

"I have been many things. I was once happy. Then I was fought over. Then I was abused. Then a scapegoat. But now, now I am the pain of separation from those who are loved; Aibeitsuriku." the voice explained.

Finally the man could bear it no more, and turned around, facing another young man, a few years younger than himself, dressed in black, with black hair. However, even with his body fading into the dark background, it was obvious that the newcomer was exceptionally muscular. And despite the shadows, to the first man it seemed as though Aibeitsuriku's eyes were glowing bronze orbs of flame, boring into his soul. Something about those eyes. Those bright, harsh eyes.

"What do you want?"

"Hakujou, years ago you committed unspeakable acts. I have come to make things right." Aibeitsuriku explained, his voice staying at that leveled, sub-zero tone as he took a slow step forward. Then another. Then another, his pace quickening with each stride. The man named Hakujou stumbled back, but before he could crash against the ground, a fist -cold, as if made of some metal that had been left in the snow for many hours- smashed into his stomach, twisting the flesh around and grinding the ribs. The sounds of bone cracking filled both their ears, intensifying the fear of the one, while the other remained unaffected.

Twenty minutes later, Aibeitsuriku stood up to his full height, glaring down at crumpled heap before him, detecting the gasps of breath from the fallen man. Snorting, he turned away.

"Enjoy that darkness. The cold, lonely darkness that comes with the realization of your weakness. Feel grateful that I wont kill you, even though I could if I wanted to. This is the best justice I can administer."

"Would you like to do something more?" a female voice asked, slightly startling Aibeitsuriku, who normally was not one to be snuck up on. Turning, he was faced by a woman in a green tunic and a long, slitted beige skirt.

"What more could I do without taking his life?" the stone souled man asked, his tone betraying no sense of emotion.

"The stone you uncovered two years ago at a cemetery." the maiden said off-handedly. "With it, I can give you a power that you will be able to harness, enabling you to deprive anyone you wish of the very essence of life without taking their life." Intrigued, Aibeitsuriku turned his full attention to the newcomer, who continued. "I know all about Masumoto, and about how you've been taking revenge for him. But just beating these men wont do you any good. They'll still be able to walk the earth again and still terrorize the innocent. If you take my offer, you can ensure that they never harm another soul ever again."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Kai, I didn't know you could dance like this." Etsu smiled, truly impressed by his grace. Each song he had been able to quickly adapt to, changing his style of movements with nearly perfect fluidity.

"My mother taught me a few months before she died. Afterwards, Zetsui finished teaching me what she didn't." he explained. "Hey, don't worry about it." he quickly added, noticing the embarrassed look on her face. "I no longer let their deaths weigh me down, Etsu. Isn't that what you worked so hard to help me do two years ago?" With a light giggle, she nodded.

After the song had finished, the two dancers returned to the small dining room, where Zetsui had apparently left a large plate of glazed rice balls, the veins of pink on the surface revealing that they had berries in the center. Each of them taking one, they sat down together and began to enjoy their desert.

"So tell me," Kai said, turning his head a few degrees to more directly face her. "How long have you and Zetsui been planning this evening?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaun awoke with a start, his body automatically rising to his feet and his arms whipping out his sword. His fire had nearly died, a few glowing coals all that remained, and so light was minimal, with the trees blocking out most of the minimal moon and starlight. However, Vaun's skills had taught him better.

"Who's there?" he demanded of the trees, making it clear that he was asking with the hope that there was no one, but with conviction and determined to find the intruder. Slowing his own breathing, Vaun closed his eyes and began to strain his hearing, a sense he could still make use of. After a few minutes, he caught a sign of breathing and turned a few degrees to his right, holding his sword defensively.

Opening his eyes, Vaun saw that his eyes had not failed him. Standing next to a tree twenty feet away from him was a man, probably about his own age, dressed in clothes that Vaun did not recognize. They were obviously of an archaic style, with leather boots, a brown tunic tan leggings, etc. However, Vaun did recognize one part of the mans wardrobe that did not fit, namely the polished steel Duel Disk on his left arm.

"Again I will ask," the boy samurai stated. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sattou, Vaun Hiten, and I have no desire to fight with you. At least, not with steel. I much prefer my limbs where they are, thank you."

"Then why have you entered into my camp?" Vaun asked, not lowering his guard even the slightest bit.

"I was asked by some lady to come duel you. I don't fully understand why, but it's no trouble either. So, what do you say?"

Vaun watched the young man a bit longer, pondering his options. _'I can't kill him; not in good coincidence unless he attacks me first. I can't run from him, because I don't retreat. And I can't ignore him, because if I drop my guard, he could attack.'_ Sheathing his sword, he made his decision. "I don't fully believe everything you've just said, but there's only one way I'll get any real answers out of you, isn't there." Leaning over, but keeping his eyes on Sattou, he reached into his pack, navigating his fingers by touch until he found his Duel Disk. Slipping it onto his arm, he drew five cards. (VLP:4000)

"Excellent. I was afraid I'd have to go through hell to get you to agree." Sattou laughed, activating his own Duel Disk and drawing five cards. (SLP:4000) Drawing a sixth card, Vaun signaled that he'd make the first move.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in attack mode." he began, slapping the card onto the plate of his Duel Disk. In a flash of pixels emerged a man nearly seven feet tall, his body completely bound in smooth black armor with twisted silver designs running along it. Each hand was covered, the left hosting a large shield strapped to the wrist, while the other held his primary weapon, a long, curved blade that was wide in it design, as if it had been made by combining a spear and a shield. "Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

"Ah, facing me head-on from the very beginning. Well then, allow me to return the challenge." Sattou said, drawing a card. "I play the magic card known as Warrior Guild! This card activates when I have more than one card in my hand with the same name, and it special summons them to the field. So I can summon two Blade Knights (1600/1000) in attack mode." Two warriors, both dressed in shimmering silver armor appeared, diamond shaped shields in their left hands and short, curved swords in their right. "Next I summon Knight of Severing (1700/1400) in attack mode." Another warrior, dressed much like the other two only larger, and his armor was spiked at the joints. His sword was also a long scimitar and his shield was hexagonal and twice the length of either of the Blade Knight's buckler.

"Now I'll set one card face down, and since I now hold only one card, my two Blade Knights both receive a four hundred point boost." Sattou continued as both of his smaller knights attack power became two thousand, that of some level five monsters. "Now my Blade Knight will attack your Iron Knight!" Raising its sword the soldier to Vaun's left lunged across the field, preparing to slash down. In response, Vaun pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"I activate my face down card, Iron Shield. This quick-play card negates all attacks you target a chosen monster on my field, Gearfried in this instance. And, since I have no other monsters for you to target, you can't attack this turn." the samurai explained as a large sheet of iron appeared next to Gearfried, who attached it to his left arm and fended off the attack. Shrugging, Sattou ended his turn, keeping his hand size at one.

With a hard swish of his arm, Vaun drew a fifth card and looked his hand over for a moment. Picking three cards, he set two in his magic and trap zone, but the holographic images of the cards did not flip up, meaning he was setting them for later. The third card also appeared face down, but horizontal and further from where Vaun stood, signaling that it was in the monster zone.

"Those three cards face down, and then I'll have Gearfried the Iron Knight attack your Knight of Severing! Iron Crush!" Running across the field at a speed that was unnatural for one laid down with so much armor, Gearfried reach back with his arm and then thrust forward, twisting his body as he did so to throw more of his weight into the attack. The spear point hit its mark, piercing into the stomach of the knight, causing it to shatter. (SLP:3900)

"A bold move, Vaun." the stranger admitted, drawing a card, giving him two and dropping the attack points of his Blade Knight's back to sixteen hundred. However, even as their attack points dropped, Sattou was smirking. Vaun raised an eyebrow, but was answered by the face down card behind the twin knights that was revealing itself. "And now that my monsters have lost attack points, my Card of Last Will allows me to draw five cards." he laughed, filling his hand which had just seconds before been nearly empty.

Surveying his new hand, Sattou seemed to be stirring over a few potential moves to strike back against Vaun's powerful Iron Knight with. After all, he would have to remove a minimum of six cards from his hand before his battle phase in order to give his Blade Knights the needed power to attack. It wasn't unheard of, but it was also difficult.

"First off, I play Monster Reincarnation to discard a card and place a monster from my graveyard into my hand. Since I only have one monster in my graveyard, it's rather obvious what I'll pick, isn't it." he explained as his slipped on of the cards into his magic zone, then another into his graveyard, which ejected one into his hand, which he turned over and placed onto the plate. "I summon Knight of Severing (1700/1400) to the field, and then I'll play the magic card, Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy one of your face down cards." While the armored knight appeared soldier appeared, a cylinder of dark wind drilled into Vaun's set card, shattering it. "Now I play Maidens Champion, giving one monster on my field with 'Knight' in its name to attack you directly this turn, so I'll have a Blade Knight attack directly!"

On Sattou's field appeared the image of a woman in a Renaissance dress, waving a handkerchief at one of the silver armored warriors, whose new posture indicated that this action was invigorating him. Charging the field, the knight stepped around Gearfried, intent on striking Vaun.

"I activate my other face down card, Attack Guidance Armor!" Vuan shouted as his face down card flipped up and demonic armor strapped around the silver armored knight at Sattou's side. "This card allows me to change who you'll target with this attack, so I'll have one Blade Knight destroy the other!" As the samurai explained this, the eyes on the breastplate of the dark armor flashed red, and instantly Vaun's assailant stopped mid attack and turned around, again being filled with resolve and charging for the trapped Blade Knight, who could barely lift his arm due to the bulkiness of the armor. In an instant, Vaun watched as the attack knight was impaled by the sword of his comrade, who had been pierced through the heart by his sword before both dissolved into light.

"Oh very good play Vaun. You both stopped a deadly attack and destroyed two of my monsters." Sattou clapped, fingering another card in his hand. "However, you still have my Knight of Severing to contend with. I'll have him attack your Iron Knight!" Moving his shield arm to the side the knight got into attack position, lifting his scimitar.

"What are you planning?" Vaun demanded. "That monster is too weak to beat mine, albeit just barely."

"Except, thanks to his effect, Knight of Severing has the power to beat your Gearfried." Sattou explained, sliding the card he had been fingering into his graveyard slot. "By discarding a card from my hand, Knight of Severing's attack power will rise by seven hundred this turn. Attack!"

With no more cards to protect his monster, Vaun watched, hiding his horror as Sattou's monsters attack rose to twenty-four hundred. The knight leapt into the air, swinging his sword down and cleaving his monster in half. (VLP:3400)

Taking Sattou's nod as a sign that his turn was over, Vaun drew again. "First, I will summon Decoy Soldier (1000/1900) in defense mode." On a horizontal image of his card appeared a man in old warrior clothes and light chain mail, holding a short sword and a large shield, while a crossbow and arrows hung on his back.

"Then I flip over my face down monster, Blacksmith Gearfried (700/500) into attack mode." A figure in tattered brown pants, leather gloves and no shirt appeared, his body and clothing nearly all black from the soot and ashes he worked with. In his hand was a short-handled hammer and long metal tongs, an anvil on a pedestal in front of him. "When flipped face up, Blacksmith Gearfried allows me to special summon one Gearfried from my deck with a an equipment magic card on him." Pulling his deck free from his Duel Disk for a moment, Vaun chose two cards before shuffling the rest and returning it to its holder. Placing the cards on his Duel Disk, Vaun continued. "I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) and equip him with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade."

Another black armored warrior, just like the first one Vaun had summoned, appeared. However, this ones weapon was different, because instead of a thick prism shaped blade, it was thin and curved outwards, like an elongated katana. For a few seconds there was a crackling sound from the weapon and Gearfried looked like he might loose control of his arm at any second, but that soon subsided.

"Normally, Gearfried destroys any weapon I give him, but the Murasame Blade cannot be destroyed by card effects, so it cancels Gearfried's effect out." Vaun explained. "And now, Gearfried's attack will raise by eight hundred, placing him at twenty-six hundred." Roaring with power, Vaun's warrior felt the added strength flowing through him. "Now, attack Knight of Severing!" In a flash, Gearfried crossed the field and swiftly cut the opposing knight to pieces. (SLP:3000) "Now, Blacksmith Gearfried, attack directly!" Snatching a short stick of metal from the forge behind him, the metal smith arched his arm back and flung the red-hot bolt at Sattou, striking him in the stomach, the stimulations of his Duel Disk deceiving his body for a second so that he felt like he was on fire. (SLP:2300) "End turn."

Drawing, Sattou looked his three cards over. Setting one as a monster and another in the magic zone, he passed control back over to Vaun, holding one card in his hand. Drawing a fourth card, Vaun grimaced because he couldn't use the cards in his hand at the moment. Leaving his hand alone, he turned his attention to the field.

"Gearfried the Iron Knight, attack his set monster." he ordered. Raising the curved blade, Gearfried slashed at the air in a cross shape, creating a current of wind in that same shape, splitting the set card image into four tiles.

"You've destroyed Questing Knight, who allows me to place a specific monster into my hand, as well as any trap, both from my deck." Sattou explained as two cards were extended from his deck which he snatched up. "Continue."

Nodding, Vaun raise an arm and pointed at Sattou's now nearly empty field. "Blacksmith Gearfried, attack directly!" Vaulting over his anvil, the iron smith raised his hammer and charged for Sattou, who pressed a button on his Duel Disk. His face down card flipped up, revealing it to be a quick-play magic card.

"Guard of Card allows me to discard one card from my hand to block your attack." As he spoke a massive shield appeared on his field, stopping the swinging hammer cold. "Also, the monster I discarded was Makyura the Destructor (1600/1000), and by sending him to the graveyard, I can activate trap cards from my hand, namely my Ground Crash, which can only activate if I have no monsters on the field and it destroys all attack mode monsters on your field." The ground beneath both the Iron Knight and the Blacksmith began to crack and crumble, creating graves for the two monsters as they fell into the holes.

"Very well, I end my turn." Vaun conceded, folding his arms across his chest. Although he currently had the advantage in every respect, his opponent seemed to also have every one of his moves pre-planned. _'His deck must be more focused than I thought. He specializes in just a few methods of battle and a limited number of card combinations, enabling him to predict the flow of the duel. Thus far it's been rather evident that he's using warriors, but what's his overall plan?'_

"I summon another Blade Knight (1600/1000) and set one card face down." Sattou declared, emptying his hand as a his third silver soldier appeared. "And since I have no cards in my hand, Blade Knight is set to two thousand attack points. Blade Knight, attack Vaun's Decoy Soldier!" Twisting his wrist, the armored warrior slashed down, chopping Vaun's monster to pieces.

"When Decoy Soldier is destroyed, I get to special summon a level four or lower warrior from my deck to the field with an added five hundred attack points." Vaun stated as he took a card from his deck and summoned it. A man in armor much like Gearfried the Iron Knight's appeared, only it was not as smooth nor as polished, and did not have the twisting silver designs. "This is Gearfried the Ferrous Knight (1750/1550), and he powers up to twenty-two fifty because of Decoy Soldier's effect!"

Growling in frustration, Sattou ended. Even with the power boost, his Blade Knight wouldn't stand a chance against Vaun's newest monster. Furthermore, he didn't have any cards, and Vaun was drawing a fifth.

"First off, for the first five turns after Decoy Soldier summons a monster, that monster loses one hundred attack points each turn, meaning he'll soon return to normal." Vaun explained as his Ferrous Knight's attack points decreased to twenty-one fifty; still a formidable level of power. "Next I will set one card face down and a monster in defense mode." Two brown-backed card images appeared on his field next to his mighty warrior.

"Gearfried the Ferrous Knight, attack Blade Knight!" Raising his weapon, which wasn't as smooth or curved as the Iron Knights, Vaun's monster speared the opposing soldier through the chest, destroying him.

"I activate my face down card, Damage Reduction to reduce all the damage I take this turn to zero!" Sattou countered as his trap card flipped up. Nodding, Vaun ended his turn. Drawing, Sattou finally got a spark of hope in his eyes. "I play Life Slashing Treasure to draw until I hold five cards, but must discard my hand five turns later." Drawing five cards, Sattou looked over his vast new options.

'_Strange,'_ Vaun observed. _'He's just throwing cards away it seems. When he had Blade Knight on the field, it made sense. But now he's just constantly discarding and drawing cards. What's his strategy?'_

"I summon Makyura the Destructor (1600/1000) in attack mode." A warrior in dark purple clothing and black patches of armor appeared. From his mask, wrists and shoulders extended long razors, each ready to spear through human flesh.

"Next I play Knights Revival to summon a monster with 'Knight' in its name from my graveyard, namely my Blade Knight." In a flash of light, one of the silver armored warriors that Vaun had killed a few times already appeared. "Now I'll sacrifice both of them to special summon their advanced forms from my hand; Hellion Makyura (2400/1900) and Blade Paladin (2000/1600)!" Exploding into a pillar of darkness and a pillar of light. After a few moments both faded away, revealing to Vaun two monsters, both taller than their previous forms, and each more menacing in appearance.

The first was obviously the advanced form of Makyura. He was armored in tightfitting black armor that seemed to be very flexible. Instead of the three long claws on the arms, each arm was now equipped with a long curved blade running along the length of his forearm and curving over his fingers, the handle perpendicular to the blade, enabling him to hold them like tonfas.

The second was in armor much like Blade Knight's had been, but was much smoother and form fitting than the rigid armor of its predecessor. His shield was long and hexagonal, much like Knight of Severing's had been, while his sword was now a long claymore. Finally, the helmet no longer hid his face, but instead had the section that would normally cover the mouth removed, the visor merely reached down to cover his eyes.

"When Hellion Makyura is summoned, I may place any two trap cards from my deck or cemetery into my hand, so I'll take one trap from each." Sattou explained as his graveyard and deck both ejected a card for him, giving him a hand of three cards. "Next I'll set one card face down, leaving me with just two cards, and since I have two or fewer cards in my hand, Blade Paladin gains one thousand attack points, putting him at three thousand. However, it wont last long. Since I sacrificed Makyura the Destructor to the graveyard, I can once again play trap cards from my hand. So I play the trap card I got from my deck, Reward of Valor, allowing me to draw three cards because one of my monsters attack points was increased." he laughed, drawing three cards, giving him four and therefore costing him his Blade Paladin's power boost, but Vaun instantly realized what the other trap card Sattou had chosen was. "Now that Blade Paladin has lost attack points, I'll play the Card of Last Will that I got from my graveyard to draw five more cards!"

Looking over his eight cards, Sattou snickered. True, he only had a handful of cards left in his hand, but that was hardly a problem. Choosing another card, he slipped it into his magic slot. "Renewal of Triplets revives my three Blade Knights (1600/1000 x3) from the graveyard in attack mode." Filling his monster zones, the three smaller knights appeared, swords at the ready. "And now it's time I stopped holding back." he smirked, grabbing a card from his hand, one he had been eyeing constantly since he drew it, Vaun had noticed. Holding the card up, Sattou's field magic zone opened up, allowing him to slide the card in before he closed.

A pillar of faint green light appeared around the two duelists, while a glowing green ring appeared to create a perimeter, various symbols filling the rim of the field. Finally, a mysterious six-pointed star formed beneath their feet. Glancing up at Sattou's monsters, Vaun noticed their eyes flash red for a second as the same circle appeared on their foreheads.

"Behold the Seal of Orichalcos!" Sattou laughed, drawing Vaun's attention to him, and the boy samurai noticed that the same green circle had also appeared on his opponents forehead. "This field card imbues my monsters with dark powers, raise their attack points by five hundred each." (Hellion-2900)(Paladin-2500)(Knights-2100 x3) "Also, the Seal allows me to use my magic and trap zones as monster zones, so I have plenty more space to fill." he laughed, indicating his five empty zones and his hand of six cards. "Now, to even things out a bit, I play Reward of Discard, allowing me to discard cards from my hand to increase my Life Points by one thousand each, but I'll only discard one." (SLP:3300) Turning his chosen card around to show Vaun, who was puzzled to see a third Makyura the Destructor discarded.

'_Why discard that this turn? Why not wait for a later turn when he doesn't already have Makyura's effect active?'_

"Now I'll play another Renewal of Triplets to special summon all three Makyura's to the field in attack mode. (1600+500/1000 x3) Then I play Knight's Honor, a continuous magic card that makes it so that whenever a monster with 'Knight' in its name gains attack points via his own effect, that increase becomes permanent." Sattou howled with laughter as his three dark warriors appeared, along with the image of continuous magic card depicting a man in armor kneeling before a king, who looked like he was knighting the first man. Now all but one of Sattou's card zones was filled, and he still had two cards in his hand, meaning that Blade Paladin once again gained one thousand attack points, setting him at thirty-five hundred.

"Finally, I'll set one card face down, lowering my hand to one, meaning each Blade Knight gains four hundred more attack points, setting them at twenty-five hundred!" he laughed at his seemingly unstoppable army, a description Vaun would all to readily agree with. Eight monsters, each with a minimum of twenty-one hundred attack, and four of which would only get stronger as the duel progressed!

"Now, I'll have a Blade Knight launch the first attack to destroy your face down monster before I destroy you." Sattou laughed as one of the three soldiers bounded across the field and slashed down ward when suddenly an invisible barrier appeared and halted the attack.

"You activated my Weakening of the Attack, the quick-play version of Negate Attack, stopping your attack and ending your battle phase." Vaun breathed a huge sigh of relief at having survived. The balance of power had just drastically shifted in Sattou's favor. Drawing a fourth card, he sighed.

"I switch my Ferrous Knight to defense mode and then I summon Onyx Titan Gearfried (2200/2000), who raises the attack power of all Gearfried's other than himself by 300, but that's a relatively moot point for the time being, except my Ferrous Knight now has twenty-three fifty attack points. I'll then set two cards face down and end my turn." The newest of the Gearfried family was a man in shimmering black armor, however it appeared to be much coarser than metal.

"Bah, bring on all the Gearfried's you want, it wont help you!" Sattou called as he drew. "My Seal of Orichalcos is the ultimate power. A power even greater than yours, Guardian!" he said accusingly. Vaun looked at his opponent with a face full of confusion, but it didn't seem that Sattou realized as he continued ranting. "I was sent to take your soul, and with it your Guardian powers. In exchange, I got the awesome power of the Seal!"

'_How odd.'_ Vaun noted to himself. _'Since he activated the Seal, he's become much more erratic and less like the light-hearted duelist he was. Was he just deceiving me, or is it something more?'_

Since he now held two cards, the Blade Knights should have lost their power bonus, but thanks to Knights Honor, that drawback was now nonexistent. However, thanks to the fact that Sattou's field was now full, he wouldn't be able to use up one of the cards in his hand and raise their attack points. At least, that was the best case scenario for Vaun. He had to hope that the set card couldn't be activated yet.

"I activate the card I set last turn," Sattou called as his card flipped up, crushing Vaun's hopes. The trap card depicted a set of scales, one of the plates holding a pile of gold while the other had a stack of weapons. "Balanced Trade allows me to discard cards to raise the attack of my monsters by five hundred per card. I discard two, meaning each monster will gain one thousand attack points. Also, since I had two cards and then decreased that, my Blade Knights each gain another four hundred!" (Paladin-4500)(Hellion-3900)(Knight-3900 x3)(Makyura-3100 x3) "Finally, one of the cards I discarded was Repayment of Losses, which will allow me to draw a new card now that it was sent to the graveyard." he drew a new card, but did not play it and instead turned his attention back to his monsters.

"Blade Paladin, his Onyx Titan; Hellion, his face down monster. Then a Blade Knight will crush your Ferrous Knight. Attack!" he shouted and both monsters leapt into action, weapons raised. First a Blade Knight cut the dark armored Gearfried to ribbons, then the Hellion Makyura used its fearsome blades to slash apart a monster that appeared to be a large, burly Gearfried in heavy armor with a massive shield.

"That was my Gearfried the Iron Guardian (1000/2400), and since he did battle I get to draw a card." Vaun breathed, raising his hand to two, but Sattou brushed it aside as his Blade Paladin continued his attack. Vaun, however, triggered one of his face down cards. "Mirror Barrier is an equipment trap card that can only activate when you attack my monster. For three turns you can't attack my monster, and the attack that triggers this card is reflected back on its user, meaning Blade Paladin will now have his attack power reduced to zero!" he explained as a shimmering bubble appeared around his monster, deflecting the sword as it crashed down and firing a shockwave at the monster, sending him sailing backward.

Shaking with fury, Sattou shot a nasty glare at the card in his hand, then at Vaun. "Go." he seethed. With a nod, Vaun drew.

"I play Smashing Ground to destroy the monster on your field with the lowest defense, in this case, any of your Blade Knights of Makyura's, so I'll get rid of a Blade Knight." he began, only slightly relieved to remove one major threat from the field. "Next, I'll summon Metal Master Gearfried (1700/1500) in attack mode." A Gearfried dressed in chain mail and only patches of plate armor instead of a full body suit, with a blue cape hanging from his shoulders appeared. "And my Onyx Titan powers him up by three hundred points to two thousand. Metal Master Gearfried, attack Hellion Makyura!" he commanded and his new monster unsheathed a long sword rather than wield a cumbersome weapon like most of the other Gearfried's.

"Are you running to your death?" Sattou laughed as his monster raised his arms defensively. Vaun's monster swung his sword in a horizontal slash and the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard.

"I activate my trap card," Vaun shouted as his other face down card flipped up. "Obsidian Edge negates one battle that a warrior participates in and destroys the enemy monster." he explained. Suddenly his monsters blade transformed to a shimmer black color and slashed through Hellion Makyura's weapons and then cleaving his body in two.

"Next my Onyx Titan can still attack, so he'll attack Blade Paladin before he can get any of his attack points back from his effect." Vaun commanded and the glass barrier around his monster diminished and the warrior raised an arm with a massive block of onyx covering the fist, which he used to punch a hole in Sattou's monster. (SLP:1100)

"I set one card face down and end my turn." Vaun finished, leaving him with just one card in his hand.

"Blade Knight, attack his monster and clear it away!" Sattou ordered as one of his smaller knights began to charge Vaun's field, but once again Vaun pressed a button on his Duel Disk. The shield of Vaun's Metal Master suddenly transformed into a flat surfaced shield with two small doors that opened and a claw extended forth from the shield, grabbing one of the Makyura's around the waist and pulling him into the path of the Blade Knight's attack. Unable to stop the attack, the knight carried through with his attack and slashed the dark armored monster to pieces.

"Magic Arm Shield allows me to use your monster your monster to block your attack." Vaun explained to a fuming Sattou. (SLP:300)

"Blade Knight, attack his Metal Master Gearfried!" Sattou ordered the last of his two Blade Knights, who cut Vaun's monster down with ease. (VLP:1500) "I swear, I'll take your soul and your Guardian powers." Sattou growled, his aggression still has high as it was when the Seal first was activated. Drawing a card, Vaun looked Sattou straight in the eyes.

"I don't know how you found out about me," Vaun finally declared, his card hovering inches in front of his face. "But you will not be taking my powers. You've taken this duel too far, and now you face the power of the warriors spirit; the power of the Soul!" Turning the card around to show Sattou the green bordered magic card. "Iron Mining allows me to draw until I either hold five cards or until I reach an equipment card. Let us see what my soul deck will not give me." Drawing one card at a time, Vaun soon held four cards, the third one he drew having obviously been an equip card.

'_Tenken told me a great evil may some day come. I hadn't thought it would ever happen, but I can't deny it anymore. This Seal...It serves an evil purpose and it fills a man with rage and hate, polluting the soul. I will stop the Seal in its path.'_ Vaun decided, returning to staring at Sattou's eyes, the windows to the soul, and he knew what he was facing.

"I set one card face down, and end my turn." he finished, folding his three remaining cards together and standing back expectantly while Sattou drew, and then began to laugh with pure insanity.

"There's still a way." he laughed. "I sacrifice a Blade Knight and a Makyura the Destructor to summon Kentsuchi-Disciple of the Blade (2700+500/2000)!" As two more of his monsters melted away, a new one took their place.

Dressed in black armor fashioned after the same mold as Blade Knight's, this warrior deserved to be named the disciple of the blade -both hands were clasped around the hilts of two claymores, while long blades like those used by Hellion Makyura seemed to be imbedded in his arms. Four curved swords were strapped to his back, their hilts and tips poking out from behind him, giving the appearance of eight curved spines. At both hips was a short sword, and what was at least six knives on each leg. Even his helmet, shaped like Blade Paladin's, had razor edges around the crown.

"Regrettably, your damned Mirror Barrier is still in effect, but at the end of this turn it vanishes. I set one card face down. Take your final move."

"I play the magic card Pump Up to double Onyx Titan Gearfried's attack points for one turn!" Glowing with a bright aura, Vaun's monster began to grow in size until its attack power had risen to forty-four hundred. "Now it's time I ended it. Onyx Titan Gearfried, attack Kentsuchi-Disciple of the Blade!" Raising his stone-gloved fist, Vaun's monster prepared his attack.

"I activate my face down card, Vanguard Sacrifice!" As the trap card flipped up, Vaun was horrified to see the aura around his monster fading away. "This card allows me to sacrifice one warrior on my field to negate one of your cards. Therefore, Pump Up is negated, but your attack continues." Sattou sneered as Vaun's monster continued his charge, only to run into the extended tip of a claymore, and then to be cut to pieces by the other swords. (VLP:400)

"I set one card face down and a monster in defense mode. End." Vaun finished, leaving him with two cards to Sattou's one, soon to be two as he drew.

"First off, it's been five turns since I played Life Slashing Treasure, meaning I must discard my entire hand to the graveyard." he explained, snapping the two cards together and inserting them into his duel disk with a casual air about himself. "Kentsuchi," Sattou began. His monster responded to his slightest word, raising both claymores in an attack position. "Destroy his defense monster." Crossing the two swords over each other, the sword master struck, snipping Vaun's monster in two.

"Activate trap!" Vaun shouted. "Iron Shrapnel activates when a Gearfried is destroyed, and it allows me to destroy one monster on your field, meaning your final Makyura the destructor has been destroyed!" From the holographic fragments of his monster fired a wave consisting of fragments of cracked and shattered metal, the jagged edges ripping through the armor of Sattou's monster with ease until, with a final howl of pain, Makyura faded away.

"It doesn't matter! I have Kentsuchi now! I can't lose!" Sattou shouted. "Also, please take note of his special ability. Whenever he destroys a monster, he gains one hundred attack points." (Kentsuchi-3400)

"It's my turn." Vaun declared. Drawing a card, he looked his options over. If he didn't summon a monster, he'd lose from a direct attack. If he did summon a monster, Kentsuchi would just get stronger. Finally choosing his cards, Vaun set a monster in defense mode and a card face down, ending his turn.

"Is that all you have, Guardian of Soul?" Sattou mocked. Vaun didn't answer, but merely gazed into the eyes of his opponent, trying to discern something about the young man who had randomly attacked him. Something felt very out of place from five minutes before. "Kentsuchi, attack!" Spearing his two main swords into the ground, the warrior reached down to his legs and drew forth four of his knives, which he flung at Vaun's face down monster.

"I activate my face down card, Command Silencer!" Vaun shouted as a totem pole appeared, emitting an ultrasonic screech. "This card negates your attack and lets me draw a card!"

"I don't think so." Sattou smirked as one of the knives struck the totem pole and destroyed the speaker, ending the shriek. "Any card that is chained to Kentsuchi's attack is negated and destroyed." Sattou explained as the remaining blades speared into Vaun's monster, destroying it. "And now Kentsuchi will gain another one hundred attack points." (Kentsuchi-3500)

"I draw." Vaun shouted, glancing at his two cards. One was an equipment magic card, but he needed a monster with relatively high attack points to use it effectively right now. "I summon another monster in defense mode and end my turn." he ended, having nothing else to do.

"So, we're just going to continue the cycle of you defending and making Kentsuchi stronger? Fine with me. Before too long you'll run out of monsters." Sattou mocked. However, as he did, Vaun noticed something: Sattou's skin was starting to pale and dry out. However, it soon became evident that either the erratic boy didn't know or didn't care. Waving his hand, his monster attacked and destroyed Vaun's defending monster, once again clearing the field. Selecting one of his two cards, his slid it into his magic zone. "I play the magic card, Battle Training of the Blade! This card totals the number of monsters in your graveyard, and Kentsuchi is considered as having destroyed that many monsters. Since he gains one hundred attack points every time he destroys a monster, he'll now gain quite a boost." Vaun glanced at his Duel Disk, realizing what this meant. He had eleven monsters in his graveyard now, meaning Kentsuchi would now grain eleven hundred attack points. (Kentsuchi-4600)

Drawing, Vaun breathed a sigh, though it was not one of relief. Sliding the drawn card into his magic zone, he activated the card. "Pot of Greed to draw two cards." he said, drawing said cards, and his eyes hardened. "It's time I showed you the real power of my soul." he declared, taking one of the cards and placing it on top of the plate.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight (1800/1600) in attack mode. Then I play the magic card Iron Refining, allowing me to special summon a Gearfried from my graveyard with half of its attack points, and if it's attack is reduced to an amount less than one thousand, I can draw two cards. I'm bringing back another Gearfried the Iron Knight (900/1600), meaning I can draw two cards." Once again armed with three cards, Vaun chose his next one. "Metal Purification allows me to sacrifice a Gearfried to draw three cards." Instantly the weakened knight vanished and Vaun drew until he held four cards. "Decentralization Prism allows me to sacrifice my lone monster to summon three Iron Knight Tokens (1800/1600) with the same stats and effect as my sacrificed monster." Gearfried faded away, only to be replaced by three Gearfried's. "Now I'll play Iron Burst, discarding an equipment card from my hand to raise the attack points of all Gearfried's by seven hundred." each of the Iron Knight Tokens began to glow with a dark grey aura as their attack points rose to twenty-five hundred. "Finally, I activate Brave Attack, allowing my three tokens to attack at once, combining their attack points!"

"But...But that's..." Sattou couldn't complete his thought as the three Iron Knight's each reach back, preparing their attacks on Kentsuchi. Combined, the three tokens had an attack power of seventy-five hundred, meaning twenty-six hundred points of damage would be dealt, and Sattou only had three hundred Life Points.

"Iron Force!" Vaun shouted and each knight complied, thrusting his weapon forward, their tips connecting as they impacted the body of Kentsuchi-Disciple of the Blade, piercing his armor and digging into his stomach before a cyclone of energy erupted from his back, slaying him. (SLP:0)

As the Life Point meter ticked down, Vaun noticed that the green circle that had surrounded them was closing in on Sattou, who suddenly had a look of pure terror on his face. As the circle's rim passed under Vaun's feet, he saw Sattou begin to scream, but could not hear him for some reason. Once Sattou was closly encircled, a green pillar flared to life around him for a moment more, and then it all faded, and Sattou dropped to the ground. Vaun took a step closer to get a better look in the almost nonexistent light, but it didn't take him long to catch the smell of decaying flesh. Drawing back in surprise, he continued to stare at the silhouetted body a few feet in front of him, wondering what had happened.

"He couldn't handle the Seal." a voice spoke up, and a figure emerged from woods. Vaun, startled from his pondering, rebuked himself for letting this person intrude. As they drew closer, Vaun noticed that it was a woman, probably a few years older than him, with shoulder-length chestnut hair, but that was the only real detail he could make out in the dim light. Without blinking, she continued. "He was so afraid of the Seal that when it amplified that fear, it began to deteriorate his body. Once the Seal took his soul, his body couldn't take it anymore, and gave out."

"In other words, he's dead." Vaun simplified, spared the shock of the news only because he had seen death many times before. "And what gives you the right to do this to people?"

"They do." she responded. "He wanted power, and we gave it to him. It was his own foolishness that did this too him."

"And why are you here?" Vaun asked. "Do you wish to face me and my powers as well?"

"Oh no, not here or now." she chuckled. "No, I was sent to observe the duel. This was just the beginning Vaun Hiten. You can't stand against us alone. You and the other Guardians will fall. Already we have sent other messengers, like Sattou, to challenge them. Soon you will all become a part of something far greater, and all will be made right, no matter what sacrifices we must make in the time being." she finished, turning on her heel. Pausing a moment, she sent one final comment over her shoulder. "If you survive the next few challenges, then I might consider dueling you myself."

Watching her fade away into the shadows of the woods, Vaun instantly went about gathering his few things together. He had no time to waste. It wasn't safe to travel home alone, and he needed allies for the coming battle he had just been warned of. If he got moving now, he'd make it back before dawn.

"Kai, I need your help."

_To Be Continued..._

Original Cards-

**Vaun- Iron Shield, Blacksmith Gearfried, Decoy Soldier, Gearfried the Ferrus Knight, Onyx Titan Gearfried, Iron Mining, Metal Master Gearfried, Weakening of Attack (Seeker), Iron Shrapnel, Iron Burst, Iron Refining, Obsidian Edge.**

**Sattou- Warriors Guild, Severing Knight (Seeker), Maidens Champion, Questing Knight (Seeker), Ground Crash, Damage Reduction, Knights Revival, Reward of Valor, Renewal of Triplets (Seeker), Reward of Discard (Seeker), Knights Honor, Balance Trade (Seeker), Hellion Makyura (Seeker), Blade Paladin (Seeker), Kentsuchi-Disciple of the Blade, Battle Training of the Blade **

Wow...Didn't mean for it to get that intense. This is actually really different than the original duel script. However, while writing this, I realized a major tactical error that completely reshaped the later half of the duel. Normally the first duel of a fic isn't that intense, but I guess I'm just special.

Also, in light of the fact that I have some big tests this weekend, plus I own a chapter to the group fic, chapter two will not be up till next week, most likely.

_Vaun returns to Kai's village in search of allies. Kai doesn't know that Vaun's a Guardian. Time for them to put together what they know. But while they do that, there's another ally half a world away, and someone's working hard to push his buttons._

_Next Time-Scorpion Sting_

Review Responses-

The Helldragon- I've scripted Matt's cameo, but it wont be upon us for quite a while first. I'll have a better idea about which chapter exactly it will be in after I have managed to rally the Guardian together, which should take another five chapters or so, give or take a few.

Seeker of the Soul- He's not oblivious, he just keeps on outsmarting himself.

WolfGeneral- Sometimes, with some people, you just gotta lay it in front of them in as loud and simple a way as you can, you know?

G.O.T.Nick- Thanks for the props, but are they as good a kudos? Anyway, you, above all people, will want to tune into next chapter. While I'm taking tests, gather some party decorations so that when it gets posted, we might make merry and celebrate for no damned reason.

John- Granted that you asked so early on, I guess I should tell you. The winner of the final conflict will be Vacuum cleaner goes by, drowning out all other noise Neat ending, isn't it? What?

Noble Paladin- Yeah, it was short. Hence, this one had to be full length, plus make up for whatever last chapter lacked.

Black Death X- There's a bit of thickening, I like to think.


	3. Scorpion Sting

This is it! A duel I've been waiting to write for some time. For the first time, I have braved the journey into the depths of the mind and soul of Nikolas Selket. I apologize this took so long, but I was stuck on some writers block in scripting another duel for a different chapter I was trying to work on, but more on that in a moment. On top of that, I spent this week downloading and watching the awesome anime _Bleach_, which you have got to see for yourselves.

On a side note, I would like to again inform those few of you who do not know, that there is a group fic being written by myself, Seeker of the Soul, and WolfGeneral. It is posted with WolfGeneral's story, and is entitled _Between Black and White_. It's really cool, especially since we have demons in it. Check it out. I'll have chapter eight of it up soon, as that's the duel that I was hung up on, but now it's finished, so I just gotta write the actual chapter.

Now, let's do this!

**Chapter Three-Scorpion Sting**

Kai Kaethan had faced a number of challenges in his life. He had been isolated in by his peers at school and had to get by on his own. Dealing with his parents death had been long and arduous. His dealings with Teken Arashi and learning about his position as the Guardian of Time had pushed him to a new echelon of power rather suddenly. And, of course, facing off with the three thousand year-old soul thief, Bakura, had nearly killed him.

However, Kai now faced something just as terrifying and heart-stopping as all of those combine: himself. More accurately, his own emotions. He was sitting out on his front porch, Etsu Akira next to him, happily rambling about herself, as was Kai's request. While listening to her, he was also turning over a number of thoughts in his mind.

'_Do I really like her? Does she really like me? No, it's just because I'm "broken" that she's taken an interest in me. She feels sorry for me. Except, hasn't she always been there for me since before my depression? No, sh was just a friend then. Now she wants to get intimate because she wants to fix me. Except, maybe not. Maybe...If I kissed her...NO! No, I can't think like that! I don't deserve her either way. After the way I treated her and-'_

"Kai?" she cut him off, a befuddled look in her eyes as he tilted her head forward to try and look into his face better. "Are you listening to me? I'm talking about myself because you asked me."

"Of course." he spluttered, trying to put together the fragments of speech he had picked up from her in his divided state of mind. "I was just thinking is all. Sorry if you thought I was ignoring you." Etsu opened her mouth to pursue the subject of his thoughts, but he spoke first. "So, how's it been these past few years since Battle City? I haven't seen you too much, albeit more than I did before the tournament. I heard you got a student teaching appointment at the elementary school?"

"Yeah, it's fun." she said, off-handedly. She obviously wasn't very interested in herself. She was trying to get to something, and Kai, being the curious humanist he was, couldn't help but try and figure out what it was.

Suddenly, without warning, Etsu began to crane her head up towards his face, her eyes half closing. Kai was shocked by the sudden advancement, but was thunderstruck when he suddenly found himself pushing his own head forward, his own eyes growing relaxed and his lips twisted to a more "appropriate" position.

_NO! STOP!'_ he screamed in his head. However, despite his protests, he kept on pushing his head forward, his lips nearly reaching hers. He could taste her breath on his tongue, the sheer desire she held for this, and he felt is own heart blazing with such emotions for her. Yet still his intellect continued to resist. _'You can't! If you get involved with her, she'll be put in danger! It's the way your life is! So long as you are a Guardian, you can't afford to-'_

"Kai!"

Both the silver-haired boy and the brunette turned sharply to face the pathway leading to the porch. Standing twenty feet from them was a young man with sleek black hair and in a white haori and blue hakama.

"Vaun?" Kai asked, puzzled while Estu sighed in disappointment. He had been so close! However, she knew Kai, and he'd put the mystery behind Vaun's appearance before whatever it was they were about to do. Standing up, she brushed herself off, as did Kai before they approached the boy samurai. "Vaun, I thought you were returning to your temple."

"I was," the black-haired boy agreed. "However, things came up. We need to talk. It's urgent."

"How ur-" Kai was cut off by Vaun's quick words.

"Kai, I need allies. As the Guardian of Soul, I have to stand up to what's coming. You're perhaps the best duelist I know, and so I thought of you first."

'_Guardian?'_ Kai's head began to spin. _'Tenken, you mean Vaun is...'_

"Inside." Kai stated firmly. He'd get to the bottom of this. However, first he had to speak with Vaun and find out what he knew. Turning, he and his two companions slowly entered the house.

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At that same time, although not that same time, the sun was beating down on the sands of Egypt. Several hours behind Kyoto due to time zones, Cairo was still in the late afternoon, and many merchants were desperate to make their last few sales for the day. On their way home they would poor what littler they had earned throughout the day into buying food for their families evening meal.

Ever since the upheaval seventy years ago, the entire world had been in economic peril, and Egypt had been hit harder than most other lands. Even before the chaos, Egypt had been a starving nation, poor and nearly desolate, thanks in large to the fact that its resources were few and far between, the people dependant upon the Nile Valley for survival.

Well, most people were. Others preyed upon the populace for their survival, whether it be a corporation using them for cheap labor, while others practiced professions which depended on other peoples stupidity in everyday life, such as doctors and lawyers.

However, Egypt was also home to a young man who lived in his own tier. He wore white desert clothes with a white cloak to block out the sun. A series of wrappings around his face hid his features except for his right eye, nose and mouth, plus a few spikes of dirty blonde hair sticking downward from his bangs.

At the present time, he was walking through the streets of a small market, smirking as people cried out in surprise or horror or a combination of the two as they realized that their wallets and coin purses, along with any other valuable they owned, either disappeared or was suddenly much thinner than it had been earlier that day.

Chuckling lightly, the young man patted the inner pocket of his cloak. He hadn't stripped the people of everything, and nothing that was of obviously great sentimental value, such as wedding rings, but he had relieved them of enough that, combined, it would feed him for a week or so.

"Besides," he jokingly muttered to himself. "This balances things out. Everyone now has the same amount of money, that I made sure of. How can they complain for being equal?" Laughing lightly at his joke, the blonde-haired man exited the market, his mission complete. As he reached the end of the next street, however, something mysterious caught his eye. Or, more accurately, someone.

Adorned in silver robes from some archaic age, the man walked with an arrogant air about him. He was adorned in gold jewelry on his arms, ears, neck, waist, forehead, and just about anywhere else that a person may display their valuables. More than likely he also had some more on his person, but not in a location that one would want to see displayed.

"This guy gives the term 'brass balls' a whole new meaning." he muttered, smirking. "But I must say, it wouldn't be very fair to let him flaunt all that in the eyes of the destitute people of Cairo." he decided, steering slightly off his original course to walk by the obviously rich man. Walking right past the jewel encrusted man, the young thief reached out, completely unseen in his actions, and removed three solid gold rings from the mans right hand, two silver wristbands from his left arm, a small pouch of gold coins from the unknowing victims pant pocket, and finally his right earing.

Laughing out loud, the pickpocket continued on his way, amused that he had so easily ripped the man off. Then again, maybe the guy just had so much that he didn't notice the loss of a small sum of gold. Well, it was obvious that this man was in need of a lesson in humility.

Stashing the plunder in another pocket within his cloak, the white robed man ran back, brushing by the man, again moving faster than could be seen by human eyes. As he passed the man, it was as if time froze for the thief as his fingers danced across his victim, snatching more rings, bracelets, a gold mantle, and finally, the rich mans silken shoes laces.

Saluting with his index and middle fingers, the blonde clicked his tongue against his cheek and continued on a few feet before turning around, the flourish of his cape hiding his actions as he stashed away the loot. Just as he finished turning, the young man laughed hysterically as the man tripped over his own feet as they came loose from his leather boots, no longer fastened by laces.

"That," he laughed to himself, turning to return to the road that would lead to his home. "That was too much fun. Unlike Robin Hood, I don't need to give to the poor to feel good about what I do; I just need to make a pompous ass fall on his ass." he laughed a bit more.

Turning the corner, his laughter died in his throat. Directly in front of him was the same rich man he had just looted. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. This was a bad sign. This man had just fallen flat on his face, oblivious of the young mans movements, yet now, here he was, staring the young man down.

Choosing to play it cool, the blonde smiled, acting as if the mans appearance hadn't surprised him. "Pleasant weather today, isn't it?"

"Nick Freeman," the blonde froze. No one had called him by that false name in years. Not since...Shaking his head, the rich man continued. "You have just plundered the sacred jewelry of the Pharaohs. You will return it, and then you will make restitution in the form of your soul."

Raising his one visible eyebrow, Nick shot the man a quizzical glance, not sure what to make of the situation, but deciding he should continue to play it cool. "Not my name. Sorry, but you've got the wrong guy. My name's Selket."

"You can change your name all you want, Nikolas, but it does not change the fact that you have desecrated sacred objects, and now you must repay with interest." the Egyptian man growled.

"I owe nothing." Nick shot back, preparing to storm past the man, even if he had to beat him into the sand to get that. True, the man was bigger than him by a relatively significant amount, but Nick was a veteran of many types of fighting, and wouldn't loose to a rich jackass, that was for sure.

"Well then, perhaps I should explain that I know who you are, Guardian of Man." That got Nick's attention, and he zeroed his eye on the man, narrowing it slowly. This man obviously knew more than he should have, and he apparently had planned on facing Nick.

As he contemplated this, Nick felt an odd sensation on his legs, as if he had a snake slithering around his ankles. Looking down, Nick realized he wasn't completely wrong. However, in place of a serpent, streams of gold were wrapping around his ankles while short ribbons of the material dug into the sand. Trying to shift his feet, Nick was shocked to find that he couldn't pull the chains of gold loose from the sand. Shooting a harsh glare at the man, Nick didn't need to ask his question.

"I was instructed to face you in a duel." the dark skinned Egyptian smiled, throwing a Duel Disk to Nick, which stopped with a dull thud in the sand at the feet of the masked thief. "And so I was given these articles of jewelry to lure you to me and then force you into a duel." he explained simply. "The only way you can escape is by beating me. So, what do you say, Nikolas Selket?"

Gritting his teeth, Nick pulled a deck of Duel Monsters cards from his cloak, annoyed that his own talents had betrayed him. If he hadn't gathered so much of the gold, there may not have been enough to hold him so tightly, and he might have escaped before this man could have confronted him.

Reaching down and snatching up the Duel Disk, he inserted his deck and activated the device. (NLP:4000) Staring across the field, he saw that his opponent had done the same.

"Now you face the power of a tribe of tomb keepers who punished all robbers. No bandit could get past them, and so this tribe was chosen above all others to protect the Valley of the Kings from burglars and to punish them without question. Now I, Asim al'Adin will continue this tradition." he boldly declared, drawing six cards. (ALP:4000) "And I will start by summoning a monster in defense mode and setting one card face down. Turn end." he smiled, fanning out his remaining four cards.

Rolling his visible eye, Nick drew a card. "I set two cards face down." he began as two holographic cards appeared in front of him. "Next I will summon Dark Scorpion-Cliff the Trap Remover (1200/1000) in attack mode." A young man in his mid twenties appeared, his skin lightly tanned by the sun. His pants were long and red, ending where his leather boots began, while a leather vest is all the covered his torso. He snickered at Asim and his monster, the fading sunlight reflecting off of his old-fashioned spectacles, as well as from the short, multi-purpose knife in his hand. "And now I shall equip him with Cliff's Toolkit, raising his attack points by four hundred." he explained as the brown-haired man whipped out a strip of leather that was folded over itself many times and began to unwrap it, revealing a plethora of picks, knives, wires, and other such devices.

"Heh, the Dark Scorpions." Asim snarled at seeing Nick's monster. "You think your highway men can hurt me, when I have the righteousness of the gods on my side?"

Nick's eye began to twitch in a most unnatural manner and speed while his fists began to tremble. "Highway men? Did you...Just call...the Dark Scorpions..._highway men_!" he snarled viciously at the man. His first turn wasn't finished, and already he had an overpowering desire to forget the duel and slit this mans throat. Asim merely laughed. "Do not take a scorpion lightly." Nick seethed. "Because, even if you crush them underfoot, it's only because they stung you first, and their venom is already coursing through your veins. Cliff, attack his monster!" he commanded, the glasses-wearing man responding by choosing a long, thin knife from his collection which he jammed into the face down monster on Asim's field.

The emerging monster was a woman in black clothes and dark skin, who rolled to the side and kicked up, catching Cliff in the stomach and throwing him back to Nick's field, clutching his stomach in pain.

"Your thief, in his impulsive and arrogant manner, ran headlong into my Gravekeepers Spy (1200/2000), whose superior defense has not only lowered your Life Points (NLP:3600), but now you've triggered her flip effect, allowing me to summon another Gravekeeper from my deck whose attack power is fifteen hundred or less." Asim explained as a card extended from his deck and he slapped it onto his Duel Disk.

A man in black robes appeared, gold manacles wrapped around his forearms and a large gold belt-buckle being all that really stood out. "Gravekeepers Curse (800/800) is my monster of choice, and when summoned he deals you five hundred damage." Asim laughed as the black robed man clasped his fingers together and began to chant. A thick mist exuded from the air around him and swirled around Nick, who merely coughed lightly to clear his throat. (NLP:3100)

"A bunch of men in shiny robes think to stop the Thief of the Desert?" he laughed, brushing himself off. "They think to make me repay all that I have taken? Keh, pathetic. They couldn't stop the Scorpions then, and now that I have joined their ranks..." he let his voice trail off. "It only proves how pathetic your traditions are."

"Pathetic?" Asim sneered. "I'll show you pathetic. I play my face down card, Book of Moon, flipping my Gravekeeper's Spy back to its face down position." he called as his lone face down card stood erect and emitted a silver stream that spiraled around the black garbed woman and she faded away, replaced by the image of a brown backed card laying horizontal.

Looking his remaining two cards over, Nick nodding, signaling the end of his turn. However, as Asim drew, he pressed two buttons on his Duel Disk and his two face down cards flipped over, revealing two traps. "The first card I activate is Coffin Seller, which will deal you three hundred points of damage every time one of your monsters goes to the graveyard. Although not the best trap on its own, in my hands it can be used in a deadly manner, such as how I am using it now. My second card is Drop Off, forcing you to discard the card you just drew."

"How unfortunate for you, Selket, that the card I am discarding is a magic card known as Dark Room of Nightmare. Therefore, I don't lose Life Points." Asim chuckled as he slid the card into his graveyard. "Besides, that card isn't a part of my strategy against you, so it's no great loss to me." Looking his remaining four cards over, Asim continued to plan.

"I flip over my Gravekeeper's Spy, summoning another weak Gravekeeper to the field, and I choose Gravekeeper's Cannonholder (1400/1200)." Another man with dark skin and arabic robes appeared, this one shouldering a massive cannon barrel. "Now I use my Cannonholder's special ability, sacrificing a Gravekeeper to deal you seven hundred points of damage."

Instantly the black robed Gravekeeper's Curse turned into a ball of light and merged with the metal cylinder, which released an explosion, firing the energy and striking Nick in the chest, pushing him back slightly. (NLP:2400)

"Don't forget," Nick said, rubbing his chest. "Since you sacrificed a monster to the graveyard, you lose Life Points." (ALP:3700) Asim ignored Nick's statement, though, and waved his hand over the field to give out his next attack.

"Next I will sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Spy for my Gravekeeper's Chief (190/1200) in attack mode." The newest Gravekeeper was a man with a neatly trimmed beard, white robes with emerald trim, and holding a long gold staff with a cobra shaped head. "And when summoned, my Chief allows me to special summon one Gravekeeper from my graveyard, namely my Gravekeeper's Curse (800/800) in attack mode!" Again the black robed man appeared and repeated his chant, lightly intoxicating Nick with the miasma of his spell. (NLP:1900) "Next I will once again sacrifice my Curse to my Cannonholder, dealing a further seven hundred points of damage." Again Nick was struck by a bolt of blue light fired from the cannon, pushing him back a bit more, dragging the manacles as he slid. (NLP:1200) "Finally, Gravekeeper's Chief, attack his Dark Scorpion now!"

Raising the serpent-headed stave, the man shouted something in some ancient tongue before smashing the rod down, the blow hard enough to kill Cliff instantly. (NLP:900) Growling in frustration, Nick watched his opponent for the signal before drawing a card.

"Bastard, you'll regret that. No one sends my Dark Scorpions to the graveyard, especially not after insulting them like that!" he shouted, slapping another card onto his Duel Disk. The new monster was female, about the same size as Cliff but with a more slender build. Her clothing was feminine, but otherwise was the same as Cliff's, and in her hand she clutched a barbed whip.

"This is my Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn (1000/1800) in attack mode!" As her name was announced, Meanae uncurled her whip and cracked it against the ground a few times, although the Gravekeeper's merely snickered at her.

"Ah yes, Meanae." Asim commented, folding his arms and slightly bowing his head with amusement. "Tell me Nikolas, have you ever pondered the fact that she's the only female member of the Scorpions, while there are four men? Makes you wonder what her real purpose in the gang was, doesn't it." he laughed loudly and so failed to notice as Nick's eye narrowed.

"You..." he seethed deeply, selected another card from his hand, which he inserted into a magic zone. "I equip Meanae with Meanae's Thornlash, raising her attack points by five hundred (1500/1800)." The whip in her hands began to loosen and fell from her grip as it transformed, the thorns becoming slightly hooked while a long barb formed at the tip. "Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn, attack Gravekeeper's Cannonholder!"

Lifting her arm straight up, Meanae began to twirl her hand at the wrist, moving the whip into motion, swirling until the entire string was held out straight by the force of the spinning, and said force was growing. With a small howl, she snapped her arm down, the whip snapping against the white-robed man, ripping a number of holes in him before he exploded in a shower of light. (ALP:2700)

"Why did I lose so many Life Points?" Asim asked, gawking at his Duel Disk in disbelief.

"First off, you drained an extra six hundred Life Points last turn when you sacrificed your monster to summon your Gravekeeper's Chief, and then again when you used your Cannonholder's effect the second time. Then, just now I dealt one hundred damage through battle and another three hundred with my trap card."

Clenching a fist, Asim reached for his deck to draw another card, but was cut off by Nick's harsh voice. "I wasn't finished! Dark Scorpion-Meanae the Thorn's effect allows me to place any Dark Scorpion card from my deck or graveyard into my hand after she deals damage to you. I'll take Cliff back from the graveyard." he explained as the card slipped in between his index and middle fingers. "Next, Meanae's Thornlash allows me to instantly set or summon the card I get through Meanae's effect. Return to the field, Dark Scorpion-Cliff the Trap Remover (1200/1000)!" Appearing next to the brunette beauty was the brown-haired man, knife at the ready. Flashing his teammate a thumbs up, they both turned their attention on the men in arabic robes, eyeing the various ornaments they wore. "I set one card face down, and that ends my turn." As the brown backed card appeared, Nick smirked over at his opponent while folding his arms, his hand of cards empty.

Drawing his new card, Asim's eyes danced with a proud light. Opening the field card zone of his Duel Disk, the Egyptian shoved the card in. All around the two players formed a set of sheer cliffs so that they were standing in a desert valley. Looking around, Nick took his new surroundings in, unsure of what to make of the situation. He was interrupted, though, by a low moaning sound reverberating off of the canyon walls, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

"This is my Necrovalley field card." Asim explained, grinning and waving at the field around them as though it were some great work of art that he were displaying. Nick simply looked on, unimpressed. "This card will empower each of my Gravekeeper's with an extra five hundred attack points." Motioning toward the white-robed Gravekeeper's Chief both players noticed as its attack points rose (2400/1200). "Now, Gravekeeper's Chief, would you please be so kind as you rid the field of Cliff the Trap Remover once more." Raising his staff, the clan leader prepared his attack, but was stopped as Nick pressed a button on his Duel Disk.

"Dark Scorpion Evasion, activate!" the thief shouted as his trap card flipped up. As the staff swung down the two Dark Scorpions sprung to the sides and the snake-headed rod crashed into the sand where they had been standing. As he moved through the air, Cliff took a set of pins from his belt and flung them at Asim, striking his deck. "This card negates your attack and allows me to discard cards from your deck equal to the level of the monster you targeted, so that would be your top three cards."

Growling, Asim pulled the cards free and slipped them into his graveyard. He then turned his attention to Nick's side, where the Coffin Seller trap card was beginning to glow with a blood red aura. "It seems you had some monsters there." Nick commented as Asim's Life Point counter ticked down. Of the three cards discarded, two had been monsters. (ALP:2100)

Drawing a new card, Nick prayed silently for a good topdeck. Glancing at the card, he smiled, slipping the card into his Duel Disk. "Life Slashing Treasure allows me to draw five cards, but I must discard my entire hand in five turns." he explained, refilling his hand. Selecting two of the cards, he slid them into his magic zone. One of the holographic images was simply of a face down card, while the second revealed itself as a continuous magic card with an image of a man in the same clothing as the other Dark Scorpions, but with long, pale hair and an eyepatch, struggling to extend his arm enough to reach a brown sac that had fallen into a crevice.

"One card face down, and my Thieves Endurance magic card." he declared, choosing another card from his hand, which he placed onto the plate of his Duel Disk. Dressed in the clothing of the Dark Scorpions and the black tattoo on his right arm. However, this one was apparently much younger than the others, no older than fifteen. He also had a mess of blonde hair spiked straight up, and his weapon of choice was a large wooden mallet. His eyes were bouncing around with intense paranoia and he seemed to be trembling, his thin limbs vibrating with fear. "This is my Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow (1000/1000)."

Asim gave Nick's new monster a scrutinizing look before throwing his head back and laughing with his baritone voice. "Your monster is small and pathetic." Asim boomed. "Just look at him as he trembles in fear of the setting sun. Without a doubt he is the most worthless member of the entire set of highway men."

Again narrowing his eye, Nick began to ponder exactly what he'd do to this pompous ass after he took the guys pride as a duelist. Perhaps he'd cut off his fingers and use the severed limbs to gouge out Asim's eyes.

"I'll set another card face down," Nick continued, lowering his hand down to one. "And finally I play my Silent Thief of the Night magic card, instantly discarding the top two cards of your deck. And remember, I have Coffin Seller in effect." Dropping the two cards into his graveyard, Asim grimaced as he saw that they were both monsters. (ALP:1500) "Now the effect of my Thieves Endurance card activates." Nick called as his second continuous card began to glow with an emerald green light. "This card activates whenever a Dark Scorpion's effect is activated or whenever one of my cards causes you to discard cards. When that happens, I will receive three hundred Life Points." (NLP:1500)

Since Nick had no more cards in his hand, Asim took that as the signal to start his turn, and so he pulled another card from his deck. "I summon Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500+500/1000)." Another dark skinned man appeared, also dressed in black robes, but clutching a long spear in his hands, which he spun around threateningly. "Gravekeeper's Spear Solder, attack Meanae the Thorn!" Leaning forward, the tomb guardian bent his arms back and thrust forward, jamming his spear into the stomach of the feminine thief. (NLP:1000)

"Since you destroyed Meanae, you destroyed her Thornlash as well!" Nick called as extended his hand down to his graveyard. "When that happens, I get to take any card from my graveyard and place it into my hand." Glancing down at his graveyard, Nick was surprised to see that it had not ejected the card like he expected. "What's...going on?"

"Didn't you know, Nikolas?" Asim chuckled. "Necrovalley is such a well protected tomb that the spirits of those who have passed on are forever bound to it."

"Bastard!" Nick shouted. "You think I'll let you separate my Scorpions, you son of a bitch?"

Asim, however, didn't seem to be listening as he turned his head away from the sky to look at the field. "Ah yes, that's where I was. Gravekeeper's Chief, attack Chick the Yellow and end this duel!"

"Go, Dark Scorpion Skill Test!" Nick shouted as his trap card flipped up and poured a shimmering aura onto Chick, who stopped trembling for a moment and actually seemed filled with confidence as he raised his hammer. Shouting loud as he arched his whole body back, Chick swung his weapon down, a golden streak of light firing from the point of impact and aimed for Asim's field, striking the advancing clan leader and sending him sailing backwards before he vanished. "This card allows me to activate the effect of a Dark Scorpion on my field as if he had dealt damage, so I used Chick's effect to return your monster to your hand. And, since a Dark Scorpion's effect activated, I gain Life Points." (NLP:1300) Nick explained as Asim placed the card into his hand. Selecting two more cards from his hand, he set them face down and then nodded to Nick to go.

"I play Pot of Greed." Nick began, drawing his two cards. "Next I play my Secret Passage to the Treasure!" he called as Chick raised his mallet and smashed it down on the ground, kicking up sand into the air. When the dust had settled, Chick was already hoisting a hinged door open and jumping inside. "This card allows a monster on my field with one thousand or fewer attack points to attack directly!" As he finished speaking, the sand in front of Asim exploded into the air, forcing the Egyptian to step back slightly. As the sand fell out of the air, Chick was revealed, hammer at the ready. Swinging down, Chick struck Asim in the shoulder, throwing him back even farther. However, for some reason Asim's Life Points didn't decrease.

"I activated my trap card," Asim explained before Nick could ask. "Spirit Barrier is a continuous trap card which reduces all Life Point damage I would take to zero as long as I have a monster on my field."

"Hmph, well you wont have a monster on your field for long. Don't forget about Chick's effect." Nick called, his voice carrying less rage than it had held up until then. "I'll have him return your Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier to your hand, clearing your field quite nicely. Also, since a Dark Scorpion's effect was activated, I gain Life Points." (NLP:1600) Turning to his third monster, Nick raised a hand and pointed at Asim. "Cliff the Trap Remover, attack his Life Points directly!"

Lazily walking up to Asim, Cliff drew out his knife and slashed at Asim before returning to Nick's field, a smug grin on his face. (ALP:300) Grinning with an unusual look of amusement, Nick loosened his tough expression slightly before continuing with his move. "Since Cliff did damage, I can destroy one magic or trap card on the field; Necrovalley falls!"

As Asim recovered from the attack, the air around them began to rumble and rocks clattered along the cliff walls, only a few at first, but over time becoming more and more numerous and larger until whole sections of stone would crash to the ground. A few seconds later the rubble faded away and both duelists were once again alone in the streets of Cairo. Nick continued to snicker at the shocked Egyptian. "Oops, it seems I've desecrated a few more tombs. And soon, I think I'll cash in on my spoils. In fact, I'll start the cash-in right now. My Dark Scorpion got to activate his effect, so I'll gain even more Life Points." (NLP:1900)

"You'll pay!" Asim barked, drawing a card. However, he had barely placed the new card into his hand when Nick's hand flew to his Duel Disk and pressed a button and one of his face down cards flipped up. It depicted Cliff the Trap Remover in the doorway of a small hut. Said hut was in ruins, as if it had housed its own hurricane. In fact, the trap cards image of Cliff himself seemed to be affected by the same unseen force, as if he were being blown out of the building.

"Trap Dustshoot requires you to have at least fours cards in your hand to activate. Now I get to look at your hand and send one of those cards to your deck, which you will then shuffle." Nick explained to a growling Asim. "But no need o show me; I already know which card I want: Gravekeeper's Chief!"

Sneering, Asim shoved the named card into his deck and quickly shuffled before replacing it in his Duel Disk. Looking over his remaining three cards, Asim took a quick glance at Nick and smirked. "You fool. You gave up a chance to look at my hand. Not only did you make a poor choice in which card to send to my deck, but missed a chance to gain some information on my other cards. Then again, from a two-bit thief I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by this. Did you learn that bit of stupidity from Don and his little band as well?" he laughed for a moment until he was cut off by a small rock smashing into his face before bouncing to the ground. Rubbing his face, Asim quickly learned that his nose was bleeding. Looking up, he found Nick glaring hard at him, his body hunched over as if he had just thrown something.

"I was gentle that time." he warned the tomb guard. "The next one wont be so smooth, and I think I'll aim for something you might miss a bit more. Maybe one of your eyes. Losing an eye can really teach you a lot about life."

"You think you and your circus group deserve to oppose me?" the Egyptian continued to provoke, this time barely twisting his head to the side enough to avoid a jagged-edged stone that went sailing by.

"I'll set two cards face down." he began as the two brown-backed card images appeared. "Next I'll re-summon my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1000) in attack mode, and I think I'll have him go after Cliff this time." Seconds after reforming, the black robed warrior snapped his weapon into a battle position and charged, skewering into Cliff's chest and reduced him to a flurry of fading lights. (NLP:1600)

Drawing his card, Nick smirked and then broke into all-out laughter. Turning the card around, he displayed it for his opponent while he regained some control over his breathing. Inserting the card into his magic zone he began to explain.

"This card is called Thieves Trophy, and it allows me to draw cards from my deck equal to the number of cards I've made you discard, up to ten cards." he explained, drawing seven new cards, giving him a hand of eight. Choosing one of his new cards, he reached down and pulled Chick off of his Duel Disk and placed the new monster onto the plate.

"I sacrifice Dark Scorpion-Chick the Yellow to summon the strongest member of the group, Dark Scorpion-Gorg the Strong (1800/1500)!" he called as Chick vanished and a new man in the same attire as the previous three and with the same tattoo on his right arm appeared. However, unlike the previous three members, this thief was huge! Standing at a height that was at least a foot and a half beyond the others, Gorg had excessive amounts of muscle on every part of his body. Even his skull was larger than the previous Dark Scorpions, although his scalp was completely void of hair, the skin reflecting the unobscured sun. At the same time, Gorg's eyes were closed and his face displayed a look of gentle, sagely kindness, making him appear innocent, despite the massive steel mace in his hands.

"That's your strongest?" Asim tried to keep from falling down in hysterics for fear of getting sand in his robes. "Sorry to disappoint you, Desert Thief, but it will take much more than a blind, balding, gentle giant to beat my Gravekeeper's, bound by their oat of duty."

Completely ignoring his opponent, Nick turned back to his cards. Choosing the one card he had held in his hand at the end of his last turn, Nick paused a moment, as if caught in thought, and then turned to the tomb keeper.

"Asim, did you think I was being foolish for leaving Cliff in attack mode, even though I knew it was likely you would have another monster with enough power to defeat him? Did you think I would turn my back on my Dark Scorpions, just on the basis that they don't wield overwhelming attack points, or simply because you had managed to seal one of them in my graveyard? Never!" Closing his mouth for a second, Nick's jaw twisted around for a moment and then he spat out a wad of saliva that was quickly absorbed by the parched sand. "Cliff may be the most egotistical member of the group, but he's still every loyal to them. He gave his life in order to destroy your Necrovalley so that the entire group might live and have the strength to defeat you."

"Spare me." Asim rolled his eyes, but if Nick heard this, he ignored it.

"The Scorpions were bonded tighter than even family itself. Not only would they die to save another, or to get revenge for a fallen comrade, but they also trusted each other without question. Their faith in one another was so strong that if something were to happen to one of them, then that Scorpion didn't even considered worrying. Their faith had become more than just belief that the others would save them and be safe themselves, but in their minds, it was fact. They could charge into any situation blindly, and know that they would all come out together. That is what made them so effective. Not only was their teamwork beyond flawless, but they could do their own individual parts without the fear of what might happen to the others."

"I'm sure that makes for a fascinating speech when your trying to rally a group of guerillas to fight an opponent they can't win, but it doesn't mean a thing in this duel." Asim yawned, seeming to be only partially attentive of what was happening.

"This is what it has to do with this duel!" Nick shouted as the holographic image of the magic card appeared. "Dark Scorpion Reunion allows me to discard cards from my hand to revive that number of Dark Scorpions from my graveyard. Cliff did his part in getting rid of your Necrovalley, and Chick allowed his good friend Gorg to enter the fray, so now I'll do my part by bringing them and their third companion back!" Shoving three cards from his hand into his graveyard, Nick waited a few seconds with great confidence as his device shot three cards into his hand, which he then laid upon his field and the three previous members of his group appeared, every one, including the normally shaken Chick, ready for battle.

"Gorg the Strong, you're all that is needed to end this duel, so go and destroy his Spear Soldier!" Nick ordered, although the tone in his voice was not that of a harsh taskmaster, but rather of a compassionate leader directing his team in the best course of action while maintaining his authority. Nodding, Gorg hefted his weapon and charged the field, seeming to know where his target was, despite his disability. "When Gorg destroys your monster, you'll lose three hundred Life Points from my Coffin Seller; exactly the amount needed! Normally it would be twice the needed amount because you'd lose three hundred from battle, but your Spirit Barrier drops that to zero. Then, just for fun I'll send one of your set cards back to your hand through Gorg's effect."

"I cannot accept defeat from those who are bellow even the most flea-infested rat who carries the most deadly plague imaginable." Asim shouted in defiance as one of his three set cards flipped up. "Your instincts may have led you correctly in regard to the fact that none of my set cards will hurt your highway men, but you were wrong in thinking I'd lose this easily!" As he shouted, his two remaining cards exploded, as did the image of the Spirit Barrier card. At the same time, Nick could hear a Life Point counter ticking. Glancing down at his own, he quickly affirmed that it was not his Life Points being changed, meaning it had to be Asim's; and if Asim's Life Points were being affected by his own cards going to the graveyard, than it was more than likely that they were going up.

"My trap card is known as Life Exchange, and is a trap card that allows both players to sacrifice magic and trap cards on their field to raise their Life Points by one thousand per card sacrificed. I sent three cards, so I will gain three thousand Life Points." (ALP:3300) Asim explained, just as Gorg's weapon descended upon his soldier who had lifted his staff to try and block the attack, but the wooden shaft simply snapped in half and the steel head continued in its path to crush his skeleton. However, because Asim no longer had his Spirit Barrier, he took damage both from the battle and from Nick's trap card. (ALP:2700)

"Doesn't matter!" Nick shouted, slashing his hand through the air. "Meanae, Cliff and Chick, team direct attack!" As a single body, the three bandits bounded across the field toward Asim, only to have what was either a very large worm or a rather fat and short snake. In fact, whatever it was, there were two of it, eyeing the coming Scorpions with mild interest. "What is this trickery?" Nick demanded.

"Two of the cards I had set face down were copies of the trap card known as Statue of the Wicked, and when it's destroyed-"

"When it's destroyed you get a Wicked God Token, and since you had two, you get tokens." Nick finished, his voice sounding rather flustered. "Fine, Cliff and Chick will destroy your tokens, since their effects wouldn't be able to do anything right now, and then Meanae will attack directly." Simultaneously, Chick and Cliff brandished their weapons and struck, Chick smashing his target into nothing while Cliff slit the second one open with his knife. Meanae then cracked her whip against Asim's lower waist, and Nick was sure he heard the sound of metal being impacted. (ALP:1700)

'_Brass balls, just like I thought.'_ he snickered before continuing his turn. "Because Meanae did damage to you, I get to place any Dark Scorpion card from my deck into my hand. Also, since her effect is being triggered, Thieves Endurance will increase my Life Points yet again." (NLP:1900) Reaching down to his deck, Nick finished pulling the card from his deck that he been extended for his taking. "Turn end."

"As inspirational as that turn may have been, I think it's time I got serious and played this duel the way I planned to from the start." Asim growled, playing the card he had topdecked, which turned out to be a rather common magic card. "Card of Sanctity allows us both to draw until we hold six cards. I will be rewarded with six cards for my long services and reverence to the sacred burial grounds of the pharaohs, while you only get three because of your hoarding and disrespectful nature." Both players drew the appropriate number of cards and took a second to look them over. Asim then chose two more, one of which he inserted into his field card zone!

"Another Necrovalley?" Nick wondered as the field card was registered by the dueling system. Asim, however, continued to smile with ultimate arrogance.

Much to Nick's relief, the steep valley walls did not return. In their place formed a large green circle, encompassing the two players and the field, but everything else was locked outside. The final step of the card was the appearance of a bizarre, six-pointed star beneath their feet.

"This, Nikolas, is my Seal of Orichalcos, the ultimate field card." Asim gloated, even as he inserted the second card he had chosen into his magic zone and a continuous magic card image appeared to his side. As the card image appeared, Nick frowned as a new set of cliffs appeared around them, although this time they weren't nearly as tall or steep, and the continuous howling was not present, meaning this card was not the same as Necrovalley. "And this continuous magic card is known as Valley of the Dead, and while it's active all Gravekeeper's will receive an extra three hundred attack points, and it also acts as a Necrovalley!"

Of course, Nick knew what that meant: if one of his Dark Scorpions were destroyed, he wouldn't be able to bring them back. Fortunately, he had the last piece of the puzzle in his hand, and on his turn he'd fight back, full force and finish this duel.

"Next I will set one monster in defense mode, as well as one card face down, and then I'll play Royal Tribute." he declared as a horizontal card image appeared. "Royal Tribute can only be activated when I have Necrovalley in play, and it then forces us to discard all monsters from our hands to the graveyard. All I have is my Gravekeeper's Chief, so I will lose three hundred Life Points from your Coffin Seller. However, I'm sure you're about to take a slightly heavier blow." (ALP:1400) Smirking, Asim watched Nick's face, which was fixed on one of the cards in his hand; the card he had searched for with Meanae, meaning Asim's guess had been correct concerning which card Nick had chosen.

"You..." Nick seethed deeper than at any other point in the entire duel while he deposited the card to his graveyard. "You bastard. You force me into a duel that I had no interest in being in, you insult my Dark Scorpions, you judge me even though you don't have any right, and you threaten me, saying you'll take my soul. However, this...this just goes too far. Forcing me to discard my favorite monster and the leader of the Dark Scorpions is just sick and cowardly. You couldn't even defeat him in direct combat!"

As he spoke, Nick's voice rose in volume and intensity. As he did so, it was plainly noticeable that rocks and sand were beginning to shake and scatter away from the blonde man. On top of that, to the trained eye was visible an aura of dark crimson energy.

"You wanted to face the Guardian of Man?" he demanded, his cloak billowing. "Very well! I will take this duel to the next level. But know this: I have no intention of using even half of my power to defeat you!"

"Bold words." Asim smiled as Nick drew a card. "But I have the Seal of Orichalcos now."

"I wouldn't give a damn if you had one million Life Points, I'd still beat your ass!" Nick shot back. "I play Monster Reborn on Don Zaloog!" he shouted, activating one of the most powerful cards in the game. However, nothing happened.

"Idiot." Asim smirked. "Did you forget that Valley of the Dead has Necrovalley's effect of sealing your graveyard?"

Looking back at his hand, Nick berated himself. It wasn't that he had forgotten, but just that he had been so blinded by his rage for that moment that he had acted on instinct rather than common sense.

"I'll set two cards face down and play Emergency Provisions to sacrifice them both and gain two thousand Life Points (NLP:3900), and then I'll have Gorg destroy your face down monster!" he commanded, the red energy around him starting to grow stable as the face down cards appeared, then shattered, and Gorg raised his weapon, which he smashed down on a man in Egyptian robes and holding up an iron rod which stopped the attack.

"Gravekeeper's Guard (1000/1900) is ever so slightly too strong for Gorg to defeat while in defense mode." Asim explained. However, as he spoke a red light appeared in the eyes of his monster while a small image of the green seal formed on the forehead of that same monster. "And now my two magic cards will empower him with a total of eight hundred attack points (1800/1900). And finally, since he was flipped face up, Gravekeeper's Guard returns one monster on your field back to your hand, and I choose Gorg."

Snarling, Nick placed the card into his hand, understanding perfectly what Asim was thinking. In order to summon Gorg again, he'd have to sacrifice one of the three remaining Dark Scorpions again, but this time he wouldn't be able to revive the sacrificed monster, thanks to Valley of the Dead. In the mean time, Asim had a monster who easily outclassed all three of Nick's, protecting the Egyptian and halting the Thief of the Desert in his tracks.

"I'll set one more card face down and end my turn."

"Then we'll return to the routine of my holy men reigning divine justice down on your highwaymen." Asim laughed, ignoring Nick's flaring aura and threats. "I flip up my face down card, Rite of Spirit, a trap card that allows me to revive a Gravekeeper in attack mode, even if Necrovalley is in play."

From the sand emerged a stone alter of Egyptian origin, blue flames dancing upon it. Then, in a single burst, the flame tripled in size and then faded away, leaving only the white-robed Gravekeeper's Chief (1900+800/1200) in its place. Seconds later the black-robed Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500+800/1000) appeared, twirling his lance around.

"Now, to kill Meanae and Chick once more, only this time they wont come back!" Asim laughed as his two monsters prepared their attacks, but hesitated as a purple mist began to flow around their feet, from which they backed away.

"No attacks this turn." Nick countered, indicating one of his set cards. "My Dark Scorpion Poison prevents any battle until my next battle phase, and will also deal you one hundred damage for every Dark Scorpion I control." (ALP:1100) Nodding, Asim ended his turn while setting a single card face down.

"I set three more cards face down and switch Meanae, Cliff and Chick to defense mode." he declared, ending his turn and reducing his hand to one, which was obviously Gorg. He knew his face down cards wouldn't affect the field much, but he was almost out of time and he needed to preserve those cards for now.

"I play Mirage of Nightmare." Asim called, playing the one card from his hand. "Gravekeeper's Chief and Spear Soldier, attack Meanae and Chick!"

"Go face down cards!" Nick shouted as two of the three cards he had set flipped up. "First is my Dark Scorpion Ambush, allowing me to summon a Dark Scorpion from my hand and raise its attack by three hundred, so I will choose Gorg the Strong (1800+300/1500)!" Instantly Nick's brute force monster appeared, weapon at the ready and his kind features replaced by a rather annoyed look directed at the two Gravekeeper's. However, Asim's two monsters continued in their charge, but ground to a halt when they saw Gorg's features lighten up and the other three Scorpions ran up to him with unparalleled smiles on their faces. Chick jumped onto Gorg's back while Meanae hugged the giant, and Cliff simply stood next to him, a grin on his face showing his relief.

"Why are your monsters mocking me?" Asim demanded as he continued to watch the absurd showing of merriment by the thieves. _'They're thieves, and so they have no right to act with simple joy! Their hearts are black and cold!'_

"It's very simple." Nick explained, motioning to his second trap card. "Blessing of Birth is a trap that activates when a monster is special summoned, and it ends your turn. I guess you could say that the Dark Scorpions are so happy that Gorg's back that they can't think about fighting, and your Gravekeeper's, who stand for justice, can't attack a group that acts so innocently."

Because of his trap card, Nick was allowed to instantly start his turn. However, after drawing his card, he noticed Asim drawing cards as well.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Nick nearly barked. Asim pointed to his Mirage of Nightmare magic card, which was glowing with a tan aura.

"My magic card allows me to draw during each of your standby phases until I hold four cards. However, during my standby phase I must discard that same number of cards."

"Clever." Nick snarled, glancing at his single card. "I, on the other hand, can't use this card, because it's now been five turns since I played my Life Slashing Treasure magic card, so I must discard it." With no cards left in his hand and only one card on the field that could possibly protect his four Dark Scorpions, Nick made up his mind. "Gorg the Strong, attack and destroy Gravekeeper's Guard!" he ordered his slightly powered up warrior, who once again attacked the man with the iron staff, but this time the brittle metal snapped with ease and the holder shattered. "That ends my turn."

"No cards in hand and only a group of weak pickpockets at your disposal." Asim smiled with confidence. "I'll grant you credit for your ability to have continuously restored your hand and protect your monsters, but in the end, destiny was with me." Asim smiled. "And so, when I defeat you, your soul will be taken by the Seal of Orichalcos, and I will dispose of your lifeless body and return all that you have stolen to its rightful place."

"Hurry up and draw, and then discard your five cards." Nick barked, uninterested in anything else his opponent had to say to him.

"Discard?" Asim asked as he drew and then taking one of the cards he had drawn on Nick's turn. "I play Sandstorm, a quick-play magic card that will destroy all non-Gravekeeper cards on the field. Normally this effect would cost me a Gravekeeper from my hand, but Valley of the Dead, acting as Necrovalley, makes up for that. So, say farewell to your Scorpions." As he finished speaking, a cyclone filled with sand burst to life at Asim's side, first shattering his magic card and his other set card, and then striking Nick's field. "I should also mention that for every one of your cards destroyed you will lose five hundred Life Points. In total, you'll lose forty-five hundred Life Points, plenty to finish you."

With a final blast of power, the twister dissipated and the sand fell to the ground, revealing Nick's empty field. His Coffin Seller, Thieves Endurance, face down card and his four Dark Scorpions were all gone and he was up to his thighs in sand. Coughing and brushing his cloak off, the Thief of the Desert took in the devastation. Instantly the red aura around him began to expand, just as the emerald circle that had surrounded them began to shrink, closing in on him. Asim could hear a low mutter coming from the man he had just defeated, and smiled.

"It was a good attempt, Nikolas. In fact, you had me worried at a few points. But now you've lost and I'm one step closer to fulfilling my duty of keeping men like you away from the tombs of the Pharaohs." he gloated, even as the shrinking seal stopped prematurely, Nick's energy keeping it at bay. "Struggle all you want Nick, but the Seal is absolute, and you lost." he laughed, but cut off when he heard a faint sound.

Twisting his head around to look at Nick, he saw hundreds of hairline cracks forming along the green walls that had surrounded Nick! Stepping back in fear, Asim tried to understand what was happening. The Seal was supposed to be impossible to destroy! That was why it was still around, even after Sandstorm had been played! And yet, it was happening! The Seal was beginning to shatter!

With one final cry of anger, Nick's power exploded and the Seal with it, returning to its previous position around both players. However, if Nick noticed this was unsure because he continued to release energy, kicking up more sand as he did so.

"What's going on? How did you do that?" Asim cried in confusion.

"I didn't lose!" Nick shouted. "I can't lose, and definitely not while a Dark Scorpion is in the graveyard!" Lifting his left arm, Nick displayed his Duel Disk and Life Point reader. (NLP:950)

"I don't understand!" Asim shot back. "I had you beat. Your field was cleared, and I destroyed four monsters, plus three magic cards, meaning the damage was forty-five hundred!"

"No it wasn't." Nick reaffirmed, adding a burst of power for emphasis, blowing away more of the sand. When Asim looked back, he was startled to find the four Dark Scorpions still standing strong. Opening his jaw, he wanted to ask how, but he couldn't even compress his lungs to force the needed air out to form the sound.

Taking this as his cue, Nick began to explain. "When you used Sandstorm, I played my trap card, Miraculous Escape, allowing me to pay half of my Life Points to save my Dark Scorpions, as well as removing Miraculous Escape itself from the field. As such, you only destroyed Coffin Seller and Thieves Endurance, dealing me a simple one thousand damage after I had reduced myself to nineteen-fifty."

"Fine, then die a slower way! I don't care anymore!" Asim said through clenched teeth, playing another of his cards. "Sealed Sarcophagus instantly sends Gorg the Strong to the graveyard!" he shouted as a massive stone box appeared and its lid lifted on its own. Gold chains whipped out of the box and grabbed onto the giant and pulled him in before vanishing. "How's that, Nikolas? That's two of your five Dark Scorpions lost and with no way of restoring them."

"I set one card face down and end my turn!" Nick responded, ignoring Asim's question and taking his turn.

"If that's all you have, the you will fail!" Asim shouted. "I summon Gravekeeper's Conjurer (1800+800/1200) in attack mode! This monster allows me to discard cards to revive Gravekeeper's from my graveyard!" he explained as a man in burgundy robes appeared, and then began to put two cards into his graveyard.

"Go face down card!" Nick shouted. "My second Dark Scorpion Skill Test to once again use Chick's effect and send your Conjurer back to your hand!"

"Damn you!" Asim hollered as he returned the card to his hand. Not only had his monster been sent back to his hand, but he had lost two cards for nothing. Choosing his one remaining card, Asim played it. "I play Monster Reborn on my Gravekeeper's Spy (1200+800/2000) in attack mode. Now I'll have all three of my monsters destroy your remaining Dark Scorpions before ending my turn."

Seconds later, Nick's field was empty, his last three monsters -his treasured friends- were struck down by the three Egyptian priests. Drawing a card, he cast his eye up to the sky and offered a silent prayer of thanks.

"This ends here, Asim." he declared, playing the magic card. "Unbridled Desire is an exceptionally rare card which allows me to draw three cards at no cost." Glancing the three cards over, Nick felt warm pride fill his soul. He would be able to fulfill his promise of loyalty to the Dark Scorpions afterall.

"I play Heavy Storm!" A large tempest came to life across the field, tugging and pulling at the only magic and trap card it could destroy: Valley of the Dead. Moments later the card shattered and the valley around them was absorbed into the maelstrom.

"Next I play Dark Scorpion Bond, allowing me to revive one Dark Scorpion and raising its attack points by four hundred. Now, return my friend, Don Zaloog (1400+400/1500)!" Nick's monster was a man a little taller than him with dark hair reaching down to his shoulders and dressed in the same clothes as his comrades and with a large leather patch over his left eye. His weapons of choice, however, were very different from the other members of his group. While they had all favored some type of melee weapon, he held in each hand an antique pistol, plus a set of short swords on his back.

"Now I will remove from my graveyard the magic card I discarded because of my Life Slashing Treasure, but with an effect that I couldn't activate because of Valley of the Dead: Dark Scorpion Resources to draw three cards!"

Drawing three more cards, Nick played the last card he had drawn from Unbridled Desire. "I activate Don Zaloog's Leadership, which can only be activated if he is in play, and allows me to choose one of three effects, and I choose the first: to revive all level four and lower Dark Scorpions, or Gorg the Strong, from my graveyard!" His field flashing brightly, and once the light was gone, Asim recoiled in shock, all five Dark Scorpions staring him down.

"Now, my final card," Nick called, choosing his card. "Dark Scorpion Battle Plans raises the attack points of every Dark Scorpion by one thousand!" A red aura, much like the on around Nick, formed amongst the Dark Scorpions, making them almost appear like a single body. (Don-2400)(Gorg-2800)(Cliff-2200)(Chick and Meanae-2000)

"No, I cannot lose!" Asim shouted, stepping back until he was cornered against the Seal.

"GO TO HELL!" Nikolas shouted. "DARK SCORPIONS, ATTACK!" Springing into action, the five thieves readied their weapons. First, Don Zaloog unloaded every shot he had from his two handguns, killing the Gravekeeper's Chief. Next was Gorg, who crushed the Spear Soldier under the weight of his weapon. Cliff would be third, getting up close to the Gravekeeper's Spy and stealthily jamming his knife into her stomach, spilling her blood. Finally, Meanae and Chick would attack together, their combined direct attacks more than enough to do Asim in. (ALP:0)

Sighing with relief, Nick felt a small tear forming in his eye as he watched his five friends finish their job. It warmed his heart to have them all together, and to see them act as one always lifted his spirits. Just before the Duel Disks could shut down, all five Dark Scorpions turned around and waved at him, flashing him smiles and thumbs-ups.

However, soon they were gone, and Nick noticed that Asim was on his knees, the Seal of Orichalcos having closed around him. Moments later the green light had faded away and Asim fell to the ground, lifeless.

Hands in his pockets, Nick approached the seemingly dead man, looking down with disgust. Normally he would have just walked away without a care in the world, but this man...This piece of filth had toyed with his emotions too much over the last hour, and had killed Nick's family.

"And in Egypt," he muttered under his breath, reaching into his cloak. "You make restitution for killing." Drawing from his robes a small knife, he flicked his wrist and imbedded the blade in the center of Asim's chest, but the man did not react. Either he was already dead, or had been catatonic. Frankly, Nikolas Selket did not care which.

Turning around, he was startled to be facing a young woman in her early twenties, much like himself, dressed in Hindu clothes, seeming to clash with her pale, European skin. Her face was one of hardened misery, yet at the same time, possibly guilt. Stepping back, Nick began to wonder how she had seen and what she was doing here.

"You have no reason to fear me right now, Selket." she stated flatly, raising her hand. Although her words were ones of comfort, her tone of voice spoke of harsh bitterness and arrogance. "I have no interest in dealing with you right now. No, not here. I wouldn't want to endanger the innocent people in this city. But know this: on the day we do face each other, you will suffer all the pains of Hell itself for your crimes, and it will be your soul that will feed these people whom you have victimized for years."

"Who ar-" Nick began to ask, but stopped as she faded away into nothing. Shocked by this, Nick narrowed his eye and tried to see if he could still sense her, but found nothing.

Frustrating, annoyed, and drained, he began to walk home, but as an afterthought returned to Asim's fallen body and took what silver and gold he found remaining on the carcass. Shiny things always made him feel better. Of course, his true trophy was still the pair of silk shoelaces he had taken while the man had been walking.

_To Be Continued..._

WOW! That chapter just took off! I had hoped that having it fully scripted would make it easier to write, but that was just too much (Messages swelling fingers). Well, next on my list of things to do (After some school assignments) is chapter seven of _Between Black and White_. Check it out while you wait for my next update here.

There you have it, the first major appearance of Nikolas Selket, Thief of the Desert. But who was that woman who confronted him? And what's the justice she and Asim spoke of?

_Nick has displayed his powers, but he's in Egypt and has no idea of the goings-on in Japan. Furthermore, Japan isn't at peace either. While meeting with Vaun, Kai is attacked, and a mistake on his part may cost him more than he is willing to pay._

_Next Time-Grief of Innocense_

Original Cards-

I'm just not gonna bother this time. Basically, if it wasn't one of the five Dark Scorpions, a commonly known card (Like Pot of Greed), or a known Gravekeeper card, then it was made by Seeker of the Soul, G.O.T.Nick (The creator of Nikilas Selket), and myself.

Review Responses-

The Helldragon- Furry animals?

Seeker of the Soul- Well, we've already firmly established Gearfried's vs Gilford's, that we have. And yes, Vaun did have a fun duel. I'm actually having more fun writing these duels than I do writing Kai's duels. Happens, I guess.

WolfGeneral- Yes, Knight decks to show up a lot, but for some reason I have an easier time making up Warrior, Spellcaster, Dragon, Angel, and sometimes Demon decks. I don't get it, but that's how it is, and I don't have the time to try and get overly creative, although I do understand where you're coming from. If you have any ideas, I'd like to hear them, although I doubt I'll be able to fit them in. Then again, I may have a few openings, so you never know.

G.O.T.Nick- Here you go. Written specially for you enjoyment (And everyone else's), I have brought you Nick, as well as great deal of his wrath, ne? Anyway, I hope this brings a smile to your face.

Noble Paladin- Don't you think a diamond ring is going a bit far? And he's really both Kai and Enzeru. That will clear up as the story progresses. Basically, for now, think along the lines (This is not exactly how it'll work) of Kurama/Yoko. As for the other questions, you'll just have to wait.

Black Death X- Indeed, that's exactly what I was implying. And don't worry about the late review. It happens. I only mentioned it to you online because I didn't want you to fall too far behind.

Darksoulkai- Welcome to my world. I don't know if I can say it's perfect, but I do appreciate the compliment.

Demon Fan- Yes, I myself am rather proud of the Gearfried deck idea, that I am. As for Legacy Hunter, I am not familiar with that card, but as far as I know the only Dark Scorpions are Don Zaloog, Cliff the Trap Remover, Chick the Yellow, Meanae the Thorn, and Gorg the Strong, plus Dark Scorpion gang.

Gearfried the Iron Angel- I didn't mean it like that, man. I had thought you maybe had finished Battle City, and if not I was hoping to provide you with adequate motivation to hurry up and do so. I mean, I don't want you to fall too far behind, that I do not.


	4. Grief of Innocense

Alrighty people, I'm back. Sorry for the wait, but I've had a number of tests and such due these past few weeks for my classes, and since I kinda slacked off last term, I needed to make up for a lot of stuff. Also, I have a major project due in my American Heritage class in less than two weeks, and right after I finish it, Finals will start. As such, I don't know if I'll be able to get much writing, if any, done. Bare with me, please.

Also, I would like to take a moment and thank Dragon Master/Dragonmaster/Dragonmaster of Chaos (It changes every so often, even though they're all the same guy) for bolstering the reviews I've received. Why, for my last chapter alone he submitted two reviews, plus a private message via the new system that has been provided. His reviews content don't have much to say about my fic itself, but they're great for a laugh when I need to read something so absurd that it's funny. In fact, you guys may want to check out what he has to say. He makes you think, that he does.

Now, let's do this!

**Chapter Three-Grief of Innocense**

Kai Kaethan was no stranger to his good friend, Vaun Hiten, coming unannounced. However, normally when Vaun came it was not five hours after having just visited. Normally he came bearing a smile, his deck already shuffled. They would sit and drink a one or two dishes of sake together before beginning a duel, or maybe a game of chess, or perhaps have a small archery or kendo competition. Whatever they did, it had always before been on friendlier terms.

This time, however, Vaun seemed panicked, his attention constantly shifting to the walls of the house, as if he expected the very shadows to come to life and attack them. He had kept his samurai swords at his waist instead of leaving them with his waraji at the front door. From his deep breathing and perspired face, Kai understood that he had run much of the return distance from whatever point he had decided to turn around at.

"Maybe you should lie down, Vaun; get some rest and we can talk about whatever it is that needs to be discussed tomorrow." Kai offered, but the young samurai shook his head before drawing in another deep breath.

"No, there's no time. For all I know, they may have followed me back here. I was more focused on getting back here quickly than stealthily. We don't have time to..." Vaun's reply trailed off as he looked over at Etsu, the young woman who was standing a few feet to away from the table where the men were sitting.

Chiding himself for suddenly ignoring her the way he had, Kai smiled and changed his voice to his less serious one before addressing her. "Etsu, I'm sorry but I think you should go home. I'm terribly sorry for this, but Vaun and I have a few things to discuss."

"No Kai." she stated firmly. "I'm not going to be left out of this. I'm not going to let you take on whatever it is without me." Taken aback, Kai was about to respond, but she continued. "I can help. I'm strong, and you know that."

"I do not mean to be rude, Etsu," Vaun countered, his tone semi-bemused. "But I do not think you fully understand what the situation is. Although I would gladly welcome another ally, I do not wish to drag in more innocent people than is necessary. One is enough for me to carry on my shoulders, in this case Kai. I could never let one as innocent as you get involved with what we're going to be facing." After a second, he threw in as an after thought to Kai, "Although I do not think it would be safe for her to leave by herself, either. If they have followed me, then they would attack her as she left in an attempt to gain leverage on us. No, she should stay here tonight. I will escort her home tomorrow myself."

Nodding, Kai turned back to Etsu, who had kept her eyes on him entirely through it all, and didn't seem to have heard what had been proposed. Jaw set firm and eyes set squarely on Kai, she spoke again. "You're not going to face anything alone. That's a promise I made to myself when your parents died."

Again, Kai was about to retaliate, but it was Vaun this time who cut him off. "Kai, do not argue with a woman once she's made up her mind." Turning back to Etsu, "Very well, but please Etsu, try to understand that I cannot protect you both very effectively."

"Vaun, you wont have to protect us." Kai finally said. "I'll protect her."

"And I'll protect him." Etsu boldly declared.

"In any case..." Vaun's voice trailed off as he turned his head to the side towards the front door. Grabbing his sword sheath right below the guard with his left hand, he waited another second, then back at Kai and Etsu. "Get down!"

What happened next occurred in a blur. The door and several inches of the wall all around it suddenly imploded, raining a hail of wood splinters in the direction of the three duelists. In the same instant, Kai grabbed Etsu and tackled her to the ground, covering her with his body to protect her from the storm of wood, while Vaun tried his hardest to avoid the shower of splinters.

Opening her eyes, Etsu frowned at seeing Kai wincing in pain as he towered over her on all fours. A few seconds later and she saw that his entire body was trembling, and looking a few degrees to the side she saw where several drops of blood had fallen from a few small wounds on his back and sides. "Kai!"

"I'll be alright, Etsu." he managed to said, taking in a few deep breaths. "You're safe, and that's good enough for me."

"But..." she looked again at the drops of blood and then quickly slid herself out from under him, allowing the silver-haired boy to collapse roughly against the floor. "But you're bleeding." she managed while rising to her feet. Then, turning and looking down at his fallen form, she recoiled and gasped in horror. Sticking out of Kai's back were dozens of large splinters of wood, each only a fraction of an inch thick and about five to eight inches long, but each also looked like it may be imbedded rather deeply. "Oh my-"

"Etsu, watch out!" Vaun shouted, shoving the girl out of the way and then turning towards the hole in the wall, his katana drawn and held defensively in his right hand while his left forearm was pressed firmly against the flat of the blades back to add extra strength to his block.

Startled by Vaun's rushed movements, Etsu barely turned her head in time to keep it from crashing against the floor, as well as catching a glimpse of Vaun as a blast of green light struck him, stopping at his sword. However, while this move kept Vaun from being hurt directly by the blast, the force was still enough to push the boy samurai back until he crashed against the back wall. Faintly, over the roar of the initial attack and the thud of Vaun connecting with the Sheetrock barrier, Etsu heard the wind fly from his lungs from the impact, and he fell to the ground, his eyes rolling back in a daze. Lifting his head slightly, he looked on with extreme pain as the attacker entered the house.

Dressed in blue jeans, a white shirt and khaki vest, the intruder didn't look all that unusual at first. He had short brown hair, very lightly tanned skin, etc. However, what was unusual was that he was huge! He had to be at least six feet and seven inches, if not bigger. Not only that, but his entire body was rather muscular, his arms each at least eight inches wide, and his legs were even bigger. His entire upper body was one well trained mass of muscles barely contained within his skin and clothing. Surveying the damage to the house, he quickly took note of the two fallen males and the frightened look in the eyes of the shocked female.

"Sorry 'bout that." he grinned foolishly, obviously feeling no remorse for the two young men he had injured. "Now, Kai Kaethan, I'm here to challenge you." Turning to the bleeding boy, he frowned. "Oh, come on, Kai. You weren't supposed to get hurt in that. I just wanted to take out Vaun. Didn't even know you had ordered a whore."

"What..." Kai tried to speak while pushing against the ground with his elbows, but he wasn't getting very far. Every movement he made shifted the muscles around a splinter and a hellfire of pain would shoot through his entire body. "What did...You say?"

"Come on, you can't die." the large mans voice boomed as he leaned down and grinned foolishly again. "If you die, how am I supposed to take your power?"

"You-" a feminine voice shrieked less than a second before a loud clapping sound could be heard. Turning slightly, the large man turned is view on Etsu, who was trying to hide the pain she felt from having slapped the giant so hard. "Hasn't he been through enough already?"

"To tell you the truth," the giant said, rising to his full height. "I really don't have a clue what this kid's been through. I also don't really give a rats ass, either. Now," cracking his knuckles, he took a small step towards Etsu, who didn't move, although her fear was evident in her face. "Why don't you get out of the way, little girl."

Standing firm, Etsu continued to stare at the man, even as he took a second step, but had to stop there because she was in his way. Reaching into her back pocket, Etsu began to retrieve her deck silently.

"No, Etsu, don't!" Kai managed to cry out from his position on the ground.

"He's right, Estu." Vaun said from his position against the wall, having managed to lift his head up and resting it against the wall. "This involves forces you don't understand. Even we hardly understand them."

"I'm not naive, you two." she responded, keeping her eyes on the large man while lifting up her hand to display her deck to him, silently challenging him. "Didn't you guys just say five minutes ago that I could help you fight?"

"Yes, but that wa-" Kai tried to argue, but was silenced by a jolt of pain as he tried to crawl closer.

"Kai!" she said through clenched teeth. "Please, trust me. Two years ago I was just as strong as you. And today, I'm even stronger. I can handle a simple lackey like this."

"Lackey?" the large man boomed before throwing his head back in laughter. "Who ever said I was a lackey? I am Gregory Garibaldi! But even if I were a lackey, I'm just here for Kai and Vaun's powers. No need to get involved yourself, little girl."

"But I do need to." she shot back. "And if you want to get whatever power it is you say Kai has, you'll have to go through me."

Rubbing his chin in thought, the behemoth considered the option, and then finally turned around and stepped several feet away from Etsu, then turned around and lifted his arm to allow the Duel Disk there activate, looking very small against his large physique. (GLP:4000) Nodding, Etsu walked over to the desk in the room where she had left her bag and pulled out her Duel Disk, which she strapped on and placed her deck into. (ELP:4000)

"Etsu," Kai muttered while he heard the Life Point counters ticking and saw her drawing her hand of five cards. Turning just slightly, she acknowledged that she had heard him, her emerald eyes burning with determination. So much so that, for a moment, Kai forgot his pain, as well as his fear, and then spoke what he had intended to, only this time with a strong note of determination in his voice instead of feeble encouragement. "Take him down."

Smiling, she nodded and turned back to her opponent, who looked rather annoyed with having to wait while the two conversed. As she brought her full attention to him, he reasserted his stance and lifted his arms, his Duel Disk on one and five cards in the other.

"Duel!"

"I summon a monster in defense mode," Gregory declared seconds after drawing a sixth card. Choosing one of his first five cards, he slapped it down horizontally onto his duel plate and the enlarged image of the card appeared on his field. Then, holding up the card he had drawn for the turn, plus another of his original five, he started to slide them into his magic zones. "And I'll set two cards face down. Turn end."

Nodding, Etsu drew a card. "I summon Spell Breaker (1600+300/1000) to the field, who gains a magic counter, raising his attack by three hundred. Now, attack his monster!" she commanded as a man slightly taller than Kai appeared. He was dressed in what seemed to be a cross of light armor and magician robes of white with gold designs all along it. In his right hand was grasped a one handed sword while his left hand clutched a diamond shaped shield. Seconds after appearing he leapt across the field and slashed down, cutting Gregory's monster in half, which revealed itself to be a pink bulb with short arms and legs and a rigidly shaped head.

"I activate my face down card, Line of the Soul!" Gregory shouted. "Since you just destroyed my Gamma the Magnet Warrior (1500/1800), I can pay one thousand Life Points to summon a new level four or lower monster from my deck to the field." he explained as his Life Points ticked down and he grabbed his entire deck. Shuffling through it, he quickly decided on a monster and set it face up, but horizontal, on his Duel Disk. (GLP:3000)

His new monster was gray and blocky, looking like a robot from a low budget American cartoon. Printed on its chest was an elegantly written lowercase English 'h'. Other than that, it had no distinguishing features. "This is my Magnet Warrior Lambda (900/1200)."

Nodding, Etsu chose another card from her hand. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

"I'll bet you're wondering why I chose such a weak monster when I played my trap card, especially since it has no effect." Gregory stated, his tone implying that he felt that he could read minds.

"Not really." Etsu called back. "I don't know much about the individual Magnet Warriors, but I do know how they operate. You must have the rest of this set in your hand and you're planning on summoning it."

Taken aback slightly by the way Etsu had brushed off his seemingly obvious play, Gregory snatched up two of the cards in his hand, the first his slapped onto a monster zone, revealing another box-shaped robot, only this one was a rusty brown color and had the letter "K" on its chest. "This is Magnet Warrior Kappa (1200/900), and now I'll sacrifice him and Lambda to summoned Magnet Warrior Iota (2500/2800) in attack mode."

In a flash of light, the two cubic monsters vanished, replaced seconds later by a mechanical figure made up of silver, with bronze underneath, showing through at the joints. It's helmet was also bronze, with what looked like a magnet reaching out of the top of its skull and pointed backwards, like a pair of reversed horns. In its hands it held a spear, the blade long and curved.

"Magnet Warrior Iota, attack Spell Breaker!" Arching its arm back, the pseudo-mechanical warrior hurled its spear at Etsu's monster, catching it in the chest and going all the way through, several inches of the blade sticking out of his back. (ELP:3400) "I set one card face down and end my turn." Gregory declared as the face down card appeared between him and his monster.

"Draw." Etsu called, seeming to be unaffected by the presence of such an overwhelming monster. Glancing her five cards over, she thought over a few combinations and then chose two of the cards. "I summon Attack Breaker (1600+300/1000) to the field, who also gains a magic counter." Etsu's new monster looked identical to her previous one, only it was dressed in light tan robes.

"Trying to scare me with little monsters, little girl?" Gregory laughed, his arms folded over his chest. "I may not know the effects of your individual Breakers, but I can take a guess. You figured I would be able to guess on your monsters abilities, so you set up this monster, hoping I would assume from his name that he destroys attack mode monsters when I attack."

From his position on the floor, Kai's entire face started to look rather annoyed as Gregory spoke. Although trying to predict your opponents moves was critical to the game, what he was doing was simply absurd. Turning back to Etsu, Kai watched as she slipped her second card into a magic zone.

"I play a continuous magic card, Magic Transfer. End."

"Heh, you could have at least set another magic or trap card to try and bluff me out of attacking. After all, I know what you're up to." the giant laughed as he drew a card, giving him two to choose from. "I summon Magnet Warrior Nu (1500/1200) in attack mode." The latest of the rock monsters was a light lavender color, its limbs circular, and a large "V" on its chest.

"Iota, attack her Attack Breaker!" Crossing it's rectangular arm across its chest, the large solder swung his spear, the curved blade slicing cleanly through the air. Stopping for a second when Attack Breaker lifted his sword to try and parry the attack.

"I activate Attack Breaker's special ability, sacrificing his magic counter to negate your attack." Etsu calmly explained as the sword began to glow with an inner blue light as the two struggled to hold their ground. However, as the light intensified, the smaller warrior began to actually push the blade back, fully parrying the attack, although he was left weaker, down to sixteen hundred, as a result.

"Clever enough." Gregory frowned slightly. "Since Attack Breaker still has sixteen hundred attack points, Nu can't beat it. Alright, I'll play my Cube of Summoning." Floating in the air appeared a large Rubix cube, it's colors scattered across its six faces. "Here's how this card works. I name a monster element, and I'm gonna call Earth, and then I roll a die. After three turns, I get to special summon a number monsters from my deck equal to the number rolled, minus one." he began to explain as a large white die fell out of the air, hitting the ground and bouncing around for a few minutes before coming to a stop on a five. "Excellent. Now, in three turns I get to special summon four Earth monsters from my deck, since I rolled a five." he ended, his hand empty.

"I play Magic Production, which generates one magic counter to a monster on my field." Etsu started her turn, her magic card raising the attack points of her monster back up to nineteen hundred. "Attack Breaker (1900), attack Magnet Warrior Nu!" she commanded, her warrior lifting his sword above his head. Slashing downward, he released a crescent arc of light which sliced through the lavender monster, destroying it. (GLP:2600) "Now I'll set one card face down and end my turn." she finished, leaving her with two cards in her hand.**  
**

Looking at his new card, Gregory stopped to think for a moment, his expression revealing that he wasn't sure about playing the card. It wasn't because he seemed worried about it being countered, he just didn't seem to care a great deal about using it. After a few more seconds, he let loose a low "hmph" and then raised his left arm, showing he had made his decision.

"I'm gonna play the card that will guarantee my victory, not that I really need it. Then again, it's for the final result of this next card that I'm playing it." he said, moving the card he had drawn that turn towards the right-hand end of his Duel Disk and the field magic slot popped out long enough for him to play the card. "Seal of Orichalcos!"

At hearing those words, Vaun's head snapped up, his eyes wide with fear. He recognized the card name, as he had just faced the same card a few hours ago. Quickly the green ring appeared, spinning rapidly around the two duelists, emitting a dark aura seen by the two Guardians on the ground.

'_What is that? It's...evil.'_ Kai pondered, trying to avoid moving too much. Looking to his fallen friend, he noticed the panic in the boy samurai's face. "Vaun, what is that thing?"

"It's...it's what's giving these people their power. I don't know how, but somehow this card makes them stronger, and in the end, the loser's soul is stripped from them." was the response.

"Are you serious about that?" Etsu asked, turning to the two young men.

Pushing off of the ground, Vaun nodded. "Yes Etsu. No matter what, you cannot lose now." Limping over to Kai, Vaun knelt down and carefully began to prod at the wooden needles. From what he could tell, they hadn't hit any pressure points or vitals. It would just hurt like hell to remove them.

"Girl, back to the duel." Gregory barked and Etsu turned her attention back to him. "Now, as I was saying, the Seal guarantees my victory. First, it fills I my monsters with a dark power and increases their attack points by five hundred. Also, I can use my magic and trap zones to hold monsters. In truth, I really don't need these abilities; I only played it so I can take your soul in the end."

True to its masters words, Magnet Warrior Iota began to glow with a dark light for a second, and when it faded a crimson glimmer could be seen in its eyes. Next to it appeared a holographic image of a box displaying the attack points of the monster, which then began to rise until they reached three thousand, it lingered for a second longer and then disappeared after both players had memorized the attack total. However, Gregory didn't have any other cards left, so for now Etsu would be fine, since Attack Breaker could block the single attack.

"Now, the question is, do I attack and have you block me, or do I wait till I get some more monsters?" he asked with a bemused grin, rubbing his chin in thought. "What the hell, I'll start now. Magnet Warrior Iota (3000), attack her monster!"

"Attack Breaker, defend!" she shouted, and again her monsters sword began to vibrate with blue light before meeting the thrust pike, which was easily knocked to the side.

"And that ends my turn." Gregory said as Attack Breaker's power dropped once again.

Drawing, Etsu tried to figure out some sort of strategy. She had a strategy back before the Seal was played to beat Iota, and although it was still possible, it would require a different train of thought.

"I switch Attack Breaker to defense mode, and then I set one more card face down." she ended, setting a card and shifting the monster on her plate to a horizontal position. Her monster responded to this by falling to one knee and crossing his shield over his chest while extending his sword to his side, it's tip resting against the ground.**  
**

"I think I'll activate Iota's special ability." Gregory said, not even taking the time to look at his drawn card. "I can sacrifice it to place any three Magnet Warriors into my hand from my deck." he said as his monster shattered and three cards extended from his deck, which he snatched up, giving him four cards, three of which Etsu, Vaun and Kai knew to be monsters.

Still on the ground, Kai twisted his head slightly to look towards Vaun, who was inspecting another of the splinters to determine how to best remove it. Thus far he had removed four, but there were about seven more to pull out.

"Which monsters do you think he chose?" the older of the two asked. Not even taking his eyes off of the wooden shaft, Vaun spoke.

"Well, he is using a full Magnet Warrior set, and I don't know all of their abilities. However if I had to guess, I'd say he chose the first set of Magnet Warriors ever released."

"But she destroyed his Gamma." Kai pointed out.

"He may have a second one in his deck." Vaun countered, grasping the fibrous needle. Turning away, Kai winced as the other boy pulled. Opening his eyes again, he turned back to the duel, panic starting to settle into his eyes.

'_I shouldn't have let her take this challenge.'_

"I play my face down card, Stone Purification." Gregory called as his trap card flipped up. The image displayed a rough clump of clay, minerals, and small rocks all lumped together, encasing a block of polished marble. "This card allows me to return up to three level four or lower Rock monsters from my graveyard to my hand." he explained as three cards shot into his hand from his graveyard.

"Among the monsters I chose when I sacrificed Iota are Magnet Warrior Alpha (1400/1700) and Magnet Warrior Beta (1700/1200), and I returned Magnet Warrior Gamma (1500/1800) to my hand just now. So I'll discard them to my graveyard to special summon the third monster I searched out of my deck, Magnet Warrior Valkyrion (3500+500/3850)."

Dropping the three cards into his graveyard, Gregory then slapped a card onto his Duel Disk. For a few seconds, holographic images of the three discarded monsters appeared. First was a short one with rectangular bars making up it's arms and legs, attached to a capsule that made up the torso. In its left arm it wielded a small shield with a magnet inscribed on it, while its right hand clutched a very short sword. The next one was made up of small yellow sphere connected to each other by thin tubes. Running through its head, legs, and both hands was a curved magnet, serving the purpose of horns, fingers, and feet. The third was the same pink robot Etsu had destroyed on her first turn.

After the necessary amount of time had passed, the three ghostly images broke into pieces and began to mass together. Alpha's torso quickly encased that of Gamma, acting like armor. Next Alpha's legs and arms attached, covering up Gamma's. Gamma's wings then sprouted out of its back, and Beta's head covered Gamma's for a second and then transformed into a golden mask. Although not necessarily the most deadly or domineering monster as far as appearance was concerned, it's attack points said otherwise.

"Now I activate Valkyrion's special ability, sacrificing it to special summon its three individual pieces to the field from the graveyard." Gregory continued as Valkyrion broke apart and the pieces once again formed into the three monsters.

'_What's he doing?'_ Etsu pondered, surprised by this maneuver.

'_Does he need monsters to sacrifice?'_ Vaun asked himself as he grabbed another splinter.

'_He wants Valkyrion in the graveyard for some reason.'_ Kai determined, seething slightly as Vaun pulled the ninth wood fragment free.

"I finally have the number of monsters needed to finish off your defenses." Gregory called. "Because even with Attack Breaker's ability, you can only block one of my attacks. However, to add to the damage, I'll sacrifice Alpha to summon Magnet Warrior Omicron (1800+500/1500) in attack mode." Instantly the gray droid shattered and was replaced by a much taller figure, this one with red armor, its entire body seemingly made up of magnets that were attached to each other and stack one on top of the other. Its head was just one large magnet sitting upright and with a golden eye peering out of each of the prongs, while its hands and feet were much the same, minus the eyes. Printed on this ones chest was a large white "O".

"Gamma, attack!" he ordered. Without hesitation, the pink bulb soared to Etsu's monster and pulled back its arm, preparing to punch. However, as the fist swung forward, the tan clothed magicians shield began to glow in the center, releasing a bright barrier which Gamma failed to break through. "Omi-" Gegory prepared to give his next command, but stopped when he caught sight of Etsu, who was facing him boldly, no sense of fear on her features. "I see, so that's how it's gonna be, is it. Well then, if you're thinking of blocking with one of your face down cards, I wont waste Omicron's attack just yet. So Beta, attack!"

Lifting its arms, the machine released a stream of electricity which snaked through the air towards Etsu, who did the only thing she could.

"Go face down card, Magic Screen!" Snapping to life, her middle trap card revealed itself and a glowing blue wall appeared between the blast and the magical fighter, neutralizing the attack. "This card negates an attack aimed at a spellcaster and allows me to draw two cards." she explained, increasing her hand to four cards.

"I figured as much. Omicron, attack and destroy her annoying monster." he commanded. Extending his arms towards Etsu's monster, the pile of magnets began to emit faint waves of magnetic energy which struck Attack Breaker and ripped him to pieces. "And now Omicron's effect activates. Since he destroyed one of your monsters, I can either raise his attack points by four hundred, or I can draw a card. I choose to draw this turn." he said, pulling a new card free. That gave him a hand of three cards, two of which were low-leveled Magnet Warriors Etsu had already destroyed.

"I play the card I just drew, Magnetic Charge." Sliding the magic card into his Duel Disk, Gregory waited patiently as the image appeared. The picture on the card was of two magnets facing each other, electricity bursting from the tines and connecting to create a mass of electric power. "This continuous magic card increases the attack points of all Magnet Warriors by two hundred per Magnet Warrior in play." he explained as Gamma, Beta and Omicron's attack points rose to twenty-six hundred, twenty-eight hundred, and twenty-nine hundred, respectively. **  
**

"Draw!" Etsu called, giving her five cards to choose from. "I summon Monster Breaker (1600+300/1000) in attack mode!" she shouted as another Breaker appeared, this one in black armor.

"I assume this monster will destroy my monsters." Gregory said, sounding rather unimpressed.

Nodding, Etsu continued her turn, growing annoyed with the giants habit of claiming to predict her moves. "Monster Breaker, destroy Omicron (2900)." she ordered. Slashing his sword down, her magical warrior released an arc of blue light which struck and dissolved Omicron. At the same time, both Beta and Gamma's attack points began to decrease by two hundred each. "Next I'll play another Magic Production, giving Monster Breaker another counter, which I'll then use to destroy Beta (2600)!" Firing another arc, the black robed warrior obliterated the yellow monster.

"And since Monster Breaker got to use his effect this turn, I can play my two Breaker's Might cards, increasing his attack power by six hundred each." Raising his sword, Monster Breaker began to absorb particles of light into the blade, causing it to glow with an ethereal hue. "Monster Breaker (2800), attack Gamma (2200)!" Leaping into the air, sword held above his head, Monster Breaker descending, cleaving the final of Gregory's monsters in half.

"My turn." Gregory called, drawing a card. "Now then, let us not forget that it's the third turn since I played Cube of Summoning." he said, gesturing to the Rubix cube, which, without anyone noticing, had used each turn to twist and turn itself a few times in an attempt to solve itself. However, as Gregory pointed to it, it finished solving itself, the side facing the field solid brown. "Now I'll summon four Magnet Warriors from my hand, and I choose Magnet Warrior Eta (1700+500+800/1400), Magnet warrior Delta (1800+500+800/2100), Magnet Warrior Zeta (1900+500+800/2200), and Magnet Warrior Mu (1200+500+800/1500)." Instantly the four new monsters appeared, one white, another green, then blue, and the last one amber in color.

Next Gregory took his drawn card and inserted it into one of his magic zones. "I play Compensation Draw. This continuous magic card allows me to discard cards from my hand, and for every card I discard, I draw one card. So I'll discard Magnet Warrior Nu and Magnet Warrior Lambda to draw to cards." Placing the two named cards into his graveyard, he swiftly drew his two new cards. "Next I play Card of Sanctity, forcing us both to draw until we hold six cards." With the speed of professional duelists, the two drew their cards; four for Etsu and five for Gregory.

Smirking at whatever he had drawn, Gregory began his next play. "And now I think I'll end this, and I'll do it by summoning my strongest monster. Normally I wouldn't waste it on you, but I'd rather just finish it."

Gulping at this declaration, Etsu, Vaun, and Kai (Now free of all the slivers) waited with baited breath for Gregory to make his move. Valkyrion had been nearly overwhelmingly powerful, and now he was saying he had one stronger. In his mind, Kai instantly realized what must be coming, based on his loose understanding of the Greek language and alphabet.

"Omega..." he muttered, barely audible. If Vaun heard him, he didn't show it, continuing to watch the duel. "I shouldn't have let her face this guy. Not before she had a chance to learn more about the situation."

Having not heard Kai's lament, Gregory continued his play unhindered. "I sacrifice Magnet Warrior Eta, Magnet Warrior Delta, and Magnet Warrior Zeta to summon Magnet Warrior Omega (3800+500+400/4000)!" he shouted as the three monsters shattered.

In their place appeared a figure in platinum armor that was fit perfectly so as to allow maximum agility. Hanging from the shoulders was a midnight blue cape that extended to the ankles. Stretching out from underneath the cape were six pairs of wings, each one rather narrow, but they were cropped closely together in a way that may allow for flight after altering the laws of physics slightly. In its hands was gripped a large broad sword. The helmet was well rounded, which would enable it to deflect nearly any attack, except for the section of the face from the nose down, which was unprotected, revealing a startling detail to the three younger duelists.

"It's a human!" they gasped in surprise.

"Correct." Gregory said. "Omega was the creator of the Magnet Warriors. Using his knowledge of physical law, her performed a sort of alchemy, altering the structure of materials to create his army."

After giving this brief explanation, Gregory placed his right hand against his graveyard slot. "And now he's going to restore his army." Raising an eyebrow, Etsu tried to udnerstand what was meant by this, and was surprised to hear the Duel Disk whirring and the clicking of cards as they ejected from the slot. "When Magnet Warrior Omega is summoned, he special summons Magnet Warriors from my graveyard to the field until my monster zones are filled, and each of the revived monsters receives three hundred more attack points. Thanks to the Seal of Orichalcos, I can hold a max of ten monsters, except I currently have Compensation Draw and Magnetic Charge in play, plus I already have Omega and Mu in play, so I can only summon six more." he said as if regretting the situation, but smirking through it all. "I summon Magnet Warrior Nu (1500+500+1600+300/1200), Magnet Warrior Iota (2500+500+1600+300/2800), Magnet Warrior Valkyrion (3500+500+1600+300/3850), Magnet Warrior Omicron (1800+800+1600+300/1500), Magnet Warrior Magnet Warrior Zeta (1900+500+1600+300/2200), and Magnet Warrior Delta (1800+500+1600+300/2100)!"

One by one, the six monsters that Etsu had destroyed or that Gregory had sacrificed returned, each one with an overwhelmingly high number of attack points. Even the Seal of Orichalcos reacted to the huge influx, roaring for a moment with a mass excess of green light as it fueled the army.

"Next I sacrifice Magnet Warriors Mu (3600) and Nu (3900) for their advanced form, Magnet Warrior Tau (2400+500+1400/2100) in attack mode." As the two named monsters shattered, dropping the attack points of all the other Magnet Warriors slightly, a new figure appeared, this one sky blue in color and wielding a pair of thin-blades swords.

"Then, for my normal summon of the turn, I'll sacrifice Magnet Warrior Delta (4000) to summon Magnet Warrior Rho (2100+500+1400/1800) in attack mode." In place of the green magnet monster appeared one in pure white with a black cape, and in its hands was a large boomerang, its edge obviously sharpened.

Inspecting his seven monsters with a sense of sure pride, Gregory waited a few minutes, letting the impossible might of his army strike fear into the young woman who opposed him, as well as the two observers. "Now my monsters, attack!"

As one, the massive army sprung into action, weapons raised and ready. First to attack was Omega (5700), who as the leader had been at the front of the charge. Swinging down with all his might, he did not so much chop Monster Breaker in half as much as he simply crushed the black armored paladin out of existence. (ELP:1100)

With his eyes wide, Kai watched the duel, his face sweating, his heart racing, and his breath growing short. Vaun too realized the odds she was up against, and bowed his head silently. With a single attack, Gregory had nearly beaten Etsu, even though her monster had been significantly powered up. In fact, that power increase was the only thing that had saved her. However, she was out of monsters, and there were still six more super-charged monsters coming for her.

'_She can't!'_ he cried in his head, unable to say anything out loud, his vocal chords no longer functioning. _'I can't afford to lose her. Why does she have to pay for my mistake? I was wrong to let her duel this guy, but I also shouldn't have to give her up for it!'_

Next to raise its weapon against Etsu was Valkyrion (5700), and with the amount of attack points it had, it could possibly even kill her, even though it was just a hologram!

"ETSU!" Kai suddenly found himself shouting. However, if she heard him, she didn't show it. She continued to watch the coming attack, somehow seeming to be unafraid. "No, please no..." Kai whimpered softly.

"Reverse card open!" With a started, Vaun, Kai, and especially Gregory turned their attention on Etsu and her card as if flipped up, revealing another trap card. However, just as they caught sight of her they were blinded by a burst of light more intense than any other card effect any of them had ever seen."Arc Flash activates when you destroy a Breaker, and it instantly ends your turn, as well as letting me place one Breaker into my hand from my deck." she explained as the light died, revealing the expressions on all their faces. Vaun's eyes were open wide enough that they threatened to fall out, while Kai seemed beyond any form of outward expression. However, perhaps the most surprised of them all was Gregory, who stared with unmatched disbelief that his assault, overwhelming and destructive as it was, had been stopped by a single, simple trap card.

"I've let you go on for far too long." she said to the stunned behemoth of a man. "I suppose I should take you as seriously now as I would if I were facing Kai or Vaun."

'_She wasn't even being fully serious with me?'_ Gregory gasped, unsure of what to make of this. A second later, though, and he managed to regain his composure and sneer once again. "Nice bluff, little one. In fact, you almost had me believing there that you were many times my superior. However, we both know it's just a bluff to try and make me lose my cool. I refuse to fall for it."

"Draw!" was all she said, keeping her gaze on the goliath. Now she had eight cards in her hand, and one of them was handpicked. "I set two cards face down." she began, the two face down cards appearing next to her face up Magic Transfer card. "Next I'll play Emergency Provisions on my Magic Transfer to gain one thousand Life Points." (ELP:2100)

"Now I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600+300/1000) in attack mode." The Breaker that appeared was dressed in deep scarlet armor with gold lining, sword and shield held ready. "I'll now use his special ability to sacrifice his counter to destroy Magnetic Charge!" With a simple slash of his sword, Breaker released his own arc of magical energy which shattered the chosen magic card upon making contact. With Magnetic Charge gone, both players watched as the army of Magnet Warriors lost fourteen-hundred attack points each.

"Next I activate Arc Strike!" she said, flipping the quick-play card around in her hand. "Since a Breaker used its effect, it's attack points are dealt to one of your monsters as damage." With another slash, Breaker the Magical Warrior released another arch of energy, this one red, which struck Magnet Warrior Omega in the chest, dropping his attack by sixteen hundred, leaving it at twenty-seven hundred. "That ends my turn."

Drawing a card, Gregory looked over Etsu's field. "Again with the bluff? You can't scare me, little girl, no matter how many magic or trap cards you set. In the end, my Magnet Warriors are far to powerful to be beaten by such weak monsters." Undaunted, Etsu continued waiting for Gregory to continue his move. Growling in frustration at her unreasonable confidence, he held up the card he had draw and discarded it and then drew a new card, thanks to compensation draw. Dissatisfied with the card he got, he discarded it and drew again. He continued this cycle five more times, finally smiling when he got the card that he obviously wanted from his now very thin deck. Holding up the card he had drawn, plus one from his hand, he turned them around to show Etsu.

"I discard Magnet Warrior Epsilon (1800/1800) and Magnet Warrior Upsilon (1800/1800) to special summon Magnet Warrior Xi (2800+500/2500) in attack mode." The new Magnet Warrior stood nearly as tall as Omega himself, navy blue in color with a pair of golden wings stretching out of its back. "Now I'll use his special ability, sacrificing him to select two Magnet Warriors who don't have effects from my graveyard and special summoning them, both with a permanent attack increase of one thousand. So, I special summon Magnet Warriors Epsilon and Upsilon (1800+500+1000/1800 x2)!" Seconds after appearing, the massive blue fighter dissolved and was replaced by a royal blue and a black armored Magnet Warrior.

"Next up is Magnet Reversal, special summoning Magnet Warrior Xi (2800+500/2500) back to the field!" he exclaimed, playing the final card from his hand, returning the dark blue armored monster to the field, filling said field once again. "Magnet Warriors, attack! Kill the bitch!" Gregory shouted to his army.

"Etsu, no." Kai muttered, slightly louder than he had his last few comments. True, she had managed some miraculous saves before, but even she had her limits.

"Kai, do you have faith in me?" Jerking his head up in surprise, Kai focused entirely on Etsu, and it seemed as if time had suddenly frozen, except for the two of them. Turning her head halfway to him, she repeated her question. "Do you have faith in me?"

"I..." Kai was at a loss for words. Although he wanted to say he did, he couldn't eliminate that fear he felt. "I don-" he stopped, a struggle starting in his heart.

'_I want to believe in her. I should believe in her. But against these odds...'_

'_Haven't you faced odds equally overwhelming?'_ he heard Etsu's voice ask, even though she hadn't said a word.

'_Yes, but that was different. That was-'_ Cutting himself off, Kai smiled, his head nodding a bit. Breaking free from his internal struggle, he returned his focus to Etsu.

"Yes, yes I believe in you. I know you can do this." he declared.

Turning back to the duel, Etsu's right fingers moved to her Duel Disk. "Reverse card open!" she shouted and one of her set cards flipped up. "Soul Spell will return a spellcaster on my field to my hand, and then allows me to special summon a level four or lower spellcaster from my hand." she explained as she lifted Breaker the Magical Warrior off of her Duel Disk. "And so now I'll re-summon Breaker the Magical Warrior in defense mode."

"Why would you bother?" Gregory asked, even as his monsters continued their attack. "You didn't even give him another magic counter. That was worthless."

"No it wasn't." Kai called from his position on the ground. "Because Etsu's about to use that move to stop you in your tracks."

"Activate face down card," Etsu called, returning the attention to her. "Magicians Ordination activates when a spellcaster is special summoned. It ends your turn and allows me to draw a card." she explained as the Magnet Monsters once again stopped in their charge.

Because of her trap card ending Gregory's turn, Etsu drew a card to start her turn, giving her a hand of six.

"First, I play the magic card, Breaker Academy!" she began her turn, activating her magic card. "This card produces four Breaker Tokens (800/500) to my field." On either side of the scarlet robed Breaker appeared two smaller Breakers, each in blood-red clothing.

"Next is my magic card, Magicians Grimoire, which will destroys all of my magicians in play and create two magic counters on my field for each destroyed magician." One at a time the five monsters on her field began to dissolve, leaving dots of light in their place. "Also, when a Breaker Token is destroyed or removed from the field, it leaves behind two magic counters, meaning each of my four tokens will create four magic counters, plus two for my Magical Warrior."

"Create all the counters you want, it wont change a thing. Each of your Breaker's is restricted to a single magic counter at a time, so you don't stand a chance at overcoming my Magnet Warriors." Gregory commented off-handedly.

"We'll see about that." Etsu shot back as the final token vanished, leaving her with a total of eighteen counters. "I summon Breaker Blader (1600+300/1000) in attack mode." Her newest Breaker was dressed in a gray uniform. However, unlike all other Breaker's thus far summoned, this one had a very unique sword, in that it was serrated.

"See, another weakling. He can't even beat my weakest monster on the field." Gregory continued with his bored tone of voice, turning his head away. "Seriously, little girl, you should have figured out by now that you can't bluff me out of attacking you. I'm all too aware of how weak your monsters are."

"Don't you dare insult Breaker." she threatened very cooly. "You have no idea of the inner strength he represents." Slowly she fiddled with the three cards remaining in her hand. Finally she settled on one. "I play Arc Edge! This equipment magic card requires I sacrifice magic counters from my field to equip it to a Breaker, but it increases the equipped monsters attack by five hundred per magic counter sacrificed." she explained. "I sacrifice eight magic counters."

As she finished her declaration, a long, thin curved sword appeared in the left hand of her Breaker Blader. Then, one by one, the dots of light floated over to the sword, entering it one at a time. With each one that entered, the blade became more of an obsidian black, glowing with an inner power that was both light and dark at the same time, defying description. Soon, Breaker Blader's attack rested at fifty-six hundred!

"And now I'll tell you of my Breaker Blader's (5600) special ability. For every magic counter I sacrifice from him, he can attack an extra time. So, first he'll attack Valkyrion!" With lightning speed, the gray armored paladin struck, cutting Magnet Warrior Valkyrion to pieces. (GLP:1300) "Breaker Blader, sacrifice your magic counter to attack again, and then I'll do it again, and again, and again until each of your Magnet Warriors is destroyed!"

One by one, the last few lights would surge into her monster, then fade away. Then, in one show of speed beyond the capacities of the human eye to see, he vanished, then reapeared seconds later, his arms outstretched to the sides. Seconds later, every single Magnet Warrior fell to the ground in pieces while Gregory's Life Points began the rapid drop. (GLP:0)

"I lost? But, if I lost, then that means...NO!" he shouted, looking very panicked suddenly. Seconds later the green Seal had closed around him, a green column of light burning all around him, and then he fell to the ground, nearly lifeless.

Sighing, Etsu deactivated her Duel Disk and turned back to Vaun and Kai, who were both standing now, much to her relief.

"Kai, are you alright?" she asked sincerely.

"Yeah, somehow." he said, turning around. Wondering what he meant, Etsu peered closer, and then through the red-ringed holes in his shirt, she could see that not only was he no longer bleeding, but there weren't even scabs were the wooden shrapnel had hit him. Just red dots indicating light sores.

"How did you..." she trailed off.

"I have no idea." he confessed. "Suddenly, after you asked me if I had faith in you, I could stand, the pain nearly all gone."

"It's because he is the Guardian of Time." As one, all three heads turned around and were greeted by a young man in his early twenties, with flaming red hair spiked upwards and a long blue coat which was fastened shut at his chest, but flared out towards the bottom. "He somehow managed to accelerate time for just himself, so that in what for us was just a second, weeks passed for his body, allowing it to heal." he explained, walking over to Gregory's fallen form. "Now, I'll just be taking this and be on my way." And with that, he clapped his hands together and then pressed his palms against Gregory. Instantly a swirl of flames sprung to life around the body, and seconds later, when it faded away, no trace of Gregory, the stranger, or even the flames themselves remained, with the exception of the destroyed doorway.

"Vaun, why don't you and Etsu get some rest. I'll take first watch of the night." Kai offered, turning back to the other two.

"Are you sure about that. I've already managed to get a bit of sleep this evening." Vaun replied.

"Yes, but you then dashed back here, and then you took that hit for Etsu. I'm feeling rather awake right now anyway. Go ahead." Slowly, Vaun and Etsu headed upstairs. Etsu would use the spare bedroom, and Vaun would use Kai's bed until they switched posts.

Going into his personal library, Kai checked his shelves for a moment, selected the tome he wanted, and then returned to the living room of the house. Opening his book and sitting down at his desk, he began to read. However, despite how anxious he was to research some new questions in his mind, he couldn't get a single thought out of his mind.

Leaning back in his chair, he smiled slightly and let the image in his head linger a while longer. "Sweet dreams, Etsu." he whispered to the ceiling.

_To Be Continued... _

There you have it. Sorry it took so long, and that it wasn't my best, but hey, how does a guy follow up a duel involving Nick Selket and have it be just as good? I don't know.

_Kai, Etsu and Vaun make it through the remainder of the night without disruption. However, with the awakening of the sun comes new questions, more riddles, and a plethora of threats._

_Next Time-Arrival On the Winds_

**Note-Do to latest policy I will no longer be doing Review Responses in the chapters. I have no idea as to why this would be necessary, but it apparently is. As such, I will use the new Reply feature to respond to all signed reviews. If you do not have an account with which to send a signed review, then please include an email account at which I may contact you.**


	5. Arrival On the Winds

Here we are yet again my friends. I apologize for the wait, but this was a very difficult chapter to write, do to finals, travel, starting a new story, the holidays, etc. Plus, this chapter was, just in and of itself, a very difficult one to write. However, it is also a rather important one. As such, I shall not deter you any longer. Go forth and read!

**Chapter Four-Arrival On the Winds**

"Master Kai." a kind voice spoke into the ear of the sleeping boy. Rubbing Kai's shoulder, Zetsui spoke again. "Master Kai, I think you should get up."

With a light groan, Kai lifted his head off of the wooden desk, rubbing his now raw forehead. He had fallen asleep at the desk, and thankfully he had missed the book when his head touched down on the wooden surface, since he sometimes, like all other humans, drooled a little in his sleep, and he didn't want to damage the leger.

Stretching his sore and still sleepy muscles, he stood up and turned to the clock on the back wall.

"9:14." he read. "How long have you been here, Zetsui?"

"Not long. Master Vaun and Miss Etsu are currently eating breakfast. Master Vaun has already examined the damage to the front door and has begun to plan repairs, which he would like to check with you." the old butler listed, causing Kai to smile. The loyalty and gentleness of the elder man always made him feel better and closer to his parents.

"Yeah, sorry about the door and all." Kai smiled sheepishly, trying to come up with some story to tell Zetsui. Sadly, he had never been good at improvising such tales.

"Not to worry. Master Vaun already explained to me how a drunken mob of duelists, desiring a duel with the current champion, broke in last night and how the three of you repelled them one at a time. As such, I felt you deserved the extra sleep."

"Uh, yeah, right." Kai stuttered, thankful to Vaun for coming up with a story, albeit one that he himself found somewhat odd. Stretching again, he stood up and headed towards the kitchen. In it he found Vaun and Etsu eating silently. As he entered they looked up at him, their eyes harboring various, yet similar emotions. It was obvious to Kai that they were both torn between fear from the previous nights events, as well as trying to plan what they would do next.

"Think you'll be able to afford the repairs to the house?" Vaun finally asked, breaking the silence. Obviously, he planned on using the simple subject as a segue into the real situation. Nodding, Kai sat down. Thanks to Serena Kaiba's purchase of some records by her great-grandfather his family had discovered and kept in their library, he was relatively well off for the time being.

"So, what will be our first move?" Etsu asked, shoveling some rice into her mouth. Looking her in the eye, Kai tried to come up with an answer. In truth, not only did he not have a plan, but he didn't know what to do with her. He was still debating whether or not he wanted her to join them. She had shown great skill and strength the previous night, but this went beyond that. Again she asked, "What should we do?"

"I..." Kai tried to speak, but his mind was trying to cover too many different things at once. "I don't know!"

"Fortunately, I do." a voice spoke, and as one the three turned to look outside the kitchen, Vaun's hand darting for the katana on his lap. Seconds later they each relaxed slightly, the two boys instantly recognizing the young man in his early twenties with long black hair loosely braided. "We get on the move."

"Tenken." Kai and Vaun said at the same time. Indeed it was him, the one who had come to them and awakened their powers. For Kai it had been a mastery of Time and for Vaun a power over the Soul.

"Kai, who is this?" Etsu asked, rather confused.

"Etsu Akira, I presume." Tenken spoke as he walked through the door frame. "I see that you three have already been made aware of the current situation." At this, he slightly jerked his head back towards the area where the front door used to be. As one, Kai and Vaun both nodded. "Sadly, there is much more to the situation. For now, I shall tell you about the history of the Seal of Orichalcos while we wait for the other two to arrive."

"Other two?" Vaun asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The last two Guardians." Kai said. "Tenken told me there were others."

"Indeed. My sister is currently in Egypt, searching for the last one." Tenken explained, crossing his arms. "Now, about the Seal. As you know, my family dwells within the Citadel of Chaos, so named because it is a focal point where all dimensions overlap, and so it is, indeed, a place of chaos. However, it's true name, before it made its way into the mythologies of humanity, was the Court of Eternity." Pausing for a moment, he looked to see if anyone had any questions. When they did not, he continued.

"The Court of Eternity at one time housed several families, each one was the overseer of some specific element of existence. For my families line, it has been the element of Balance."

"In the days that the court was created, the world was divided between a number of ancient and advanced nations, which you should know from your various mythologies; Atlantis, Rama, Avalon, and so forth. For a time, they were each content with one another. However, Atlantis soon fell into turmoil, dragged into its decadence by it's king, a man named Dartz. A civil war broke out, and Dartz's father, in order to gain the power to stop the deranged king, invoked the powers of the Court of Eternity in order gain an army powerful enough to counter Dartz."

"What could do that?" Etsu asked, sounded appalled. "What could cause a family to want to fight like that, and to force their entire kingdom against itself?"

"The Stone of the Orichalcos." Tenken answered. "It fell from the stars and polluted the minds of the Atlanteans, corrupting them and giving power to some and taking the souls of others. Even though Dartz was defeated, he continued to walk the earth. The Guardians wanted to hunt him down, but he had left such chaos in his wake that the Court was forced to focus on restoring order and justice." he explained and then clenched his hand into a fist. "If only they could have gone after Dartz..." he trailed off for a moment before turning back to the three young adults.

"At first it was assumed that a dark god, such as Apep or Loki had sent the Orichalcos. If only that were the case. Instead it was the Dark Guardians."

"Dark Guardians?" Kai asked, amazed by the information he was gaining, brief as it was.

"Yes. As you should know, there is a requirement for balance in existence. Because there are Guardians for virtues such as Justice, there are those who are complete opposites, such as Death and Chaos. The Court was not aware that the Dark Guardians had come together in any form of alliance, and so was caught off guard and unable to track the source quickly enough, and the Dark Guardians escaped. Within a single century, every last one of those mighty nations had collapsed, forever lost in legend. It would take several thousand years for any true civilization to rise again, but rise they did in the form of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and many more."

"By this time the Court of Eternity had nearly vanished from the knowledge of humanity. It was best that they did not know about the Court, you must understand, and that they try and prevent their own destruction, something that was learned after the last empire, Avalon, fell. It became obvious that the Court could not fight every war for humanity. If peace were to be maintained, then those who are directly affected by it must fight for it. You must change the hearts of the people before anything else can be done. Ever since this was learned, the Guardians have held back until truly needed. We left, instead, guides to provide humanity with the needed weapons to fight. The most prominent was in Egypt, were we left a book that would later be called the Millennium Spellbook, and it contained the instructions for the creation of magical items."

Startled by this information, Kai's eyes widened. He had heard of that book before! Bakura had mentioned it when explaining the creation of the Millennium Items. But, if that were true, then that would mean that the Guardians had left the instructions of human sacrifice!

"The Guardians are the ones who instructed the Egyptians to slaughter dozens of lives?" he demanded.

"You must understand, Kai, that there are laws governing this universe. We have incredible power because of our bloodlines. In fact, any one of us Guardians has within us significantly more power than any Millennium Item. However, normal humans do not have such a gift. They needed to acquire the power elsewhere, and in this case, from the souls of others. True, it is horrendous, but at the same time, it shows how dedicated to saving themselves the Egyptians were." Tenken shot back, instantly silencing the younger man.

"Now, to our present situation." Tenken continued. "The Dark Guardians have returned, and it seems that they have chosen to restore the Seal of Orichalos, even if it is just for the sake of using it as a means of taking our powers. In truth, I have no idea what they are specifically planning to do with such incredible powers, but I can assure you that if they succeed, they will have virtually no limitations on what they could potentially do."

Elsewhere, in the land of Egypt, it was still several hours away from dawn. However, despite the hour, Nikolas Selket, the Thief of the Desert, found himself awake and listening to an explanation by a young woman with blonde hair, although much lighter his own. She was shorter than him as well, and didn't seem to be more than seventeen. She was dressed in black pants that seemed to be modified from an old Japanese priestess uniform, in that they seemed to have been made from a skirt worn by such a woman. Her top was red and also seemed to modified from a miko uniform, although less ancient in appearance.

"So, you're Tenken's sister?" he asked, his elbows on his knees and his fingers intertwined.

"I am." she admitted with a nodded.

"That bastard." Nick muttered. "I didn't ask for any of this. I don't give a damn if I have these powers, I didn't sign up to help."

"Don't say that." Asagi said, twisting slightly to try and get a look at his face, but he was leaning forward and looking down. Whether he did this to display his displeasure at being awoken like he had, or because he didn't want to help, or maybe because he was embarrassed by the mess of flesh and scars that was once his eye, he refused to make eye contact with her.

"Why not? I thought you were about truth and crap like that." he spat. "It's not my problem."

"Not true." Asagi said, suddenly sounding rather sure of herself. "After all, you are the Guardian of Man. Aren't you at all curious as to why someone like you, a thief, selfish and cruel, is a Guardian?" At these words, Nick lifted his head slightly, although he continued to look down. "You are, in fact, the perfect exhibit of humanity. You are full of self- interest and passion, yet you also have a conscience. You have a sense of right and wrong."

"I may have, at one time in my life." Nick admitted. Then, lifting his head, he looked Asagi in the eyes with his one remaining eye, the other just a scared socket. "But that part of me is long gone. Nick Freeman is gone, and Nikolas Selket remains."

"Very well, if you wont listen to me, then perhaps you will listen to my brother." Asagi sighed, snapping her fingers. Looking up, puzzled by what she had said, Nick was startled to find them both suddenly surrounded by swirling lights.

"What's this?"

"I'm teleporting us. It's a skill I can't do very often, and it's actually rather risky doing it with someone else, but I don't have time to try and coax you." she explained as if it were nothing important.

Moments later Nick found himself in a building that he was having trouble describing as either small or large. On the one hand, it was an actual house, rather than the apartments that covered most of the earth. On the other hand, it wasn't a mansion either. To his left Nick noticed a large whole that had been broken into the wall, allowing sunlight and a light breeze to infiltrate the house.

"Asagi, I see you succeeded in gathering Nikolas." a voice from behind him spoke. Nick recognized it instantly. He hadn't heard that voice for two years, but he remembered it just the same. Whirling around, he was greeted by Tenken Arashi, as well as three youths, two boys and a girl, each looking surprised by his sudden arrival.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Tenken." Nick spat, looking down at the ground, trying to hide his missing eye from the three youths. "I'm only here because she dragged me along." At this he jerked a thumb at Asagi. "Now, take me back to Egypt. I have a village to rob blind."

"You!" a voice Nick did not recognize shouted. Looking up in surprise, Nick's one eye widened as the youngest of the three youths, a boy in samurai clothing, burst forward, drawing a sword from his hip. Regaining control of his body in the same instant that the boy cut downward, Nick barely managed to sidestep the attack. Turning his head back to where he had been standing he found the boy already preparing his next attack. Thinking quickly, Nick reached inside his tunic for his knife, only to grasp nothing but cloth.

'_Dammit! She dragged me away before I could even grab any of my usual equipment!'_ he scowled. Ducking into a roll he avoided the attack, this time ending his dodge facing the boy, which would give him more time to react.

As the samurai began to lift himself from his crouch, he was tackled and his arms seized behind his back by the other young man, this one with silver hair. However, this didn't have as much effect as Nick would have hoped, as the silver-haired man only succeeded in slowing the attacker down.

"Vaun, calm down!" the silver-haired boy shouted.

"Just hold him a bit longer." Nick said, cracking his knuckles and forming a fist. Punching forward, he was startled to find a hand reach out and wrap around his wrist, stopping him instantly.

Shooting a snarled to his right, he found himself facing Tenken's stone cold face. "That's enough." the guardian barked, and instantly both fighters stopped struggling, although neither seemed ready to stop altogether.

"Tenken, he must pay for what he did!" Vaun shouted, shaking himself free from Kai's hold, sword still in his grasp but not in any position to launch an attack.

"What's your problem?" Nick demanded of his attacker.

"Two years ago you robbed my temple, taking a set of samurai swords that are special treasures of the dojo." Vaun growled, narrowing his eyes. As he said this, realization struck Nick, and he laughed.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. They're currently hanging up on my wall as we speak." the thief said with a smile. After a second he examined the young samurai, and his grin grew as he finally recognized Vaun. "And I remember you. You almost got me." At this he held up his left hand, palm out, where an inch long scar could plainly be seen. "That's when you went for my heart, so I put up my hand and although it got stabbed pretty badly, I managed to push your attack off course."

"I'll finish the job here!" Vaun shouted, tightening his grip on his sword's hilt.

"Stop!" Tenken shouted, and amazingly Vaun did so. "Asagi?" he asked, turning to his sister.

With a nod, she spoke with reverence. "Yes Brother, I saw them when I first arrived. They are still there, perfectly in tact." Then, as an afterthought, Asagi reached down to the duel disk on her arm, detached it, and then held it out to Nick. "This is yours, as is the deck. Also," she said, reaching into the confines of her clothes, Seconds later she pulled out a fist of string, which she held out to Nick, which he accepted and placed over his mangled eye socket. "You'll be needing those." she added as an after thought. "I grabbed them while you were still waking up."

"Hold it." Nick said, once again addressing Tenken. "Like I said, I'm not with you guys."

"Yes you are." Tenken said, and as he did he seemed to suddenly tower over Nick rather than being only a few inches taller. "Because you know, you've always known, that if you don't that there will be countless others who will end up like you."

As these words entered Nick's ears, his entire demeanor seemed to deflated. His entire resolve to defy Tenken was lost, and he suddenly seemed very submissive. Lifting his head again, he looked Tenken in the eye. "Note this, you bastard: after this is over, I'll be sure to kill you."

"Not if I kill you first." Vaun seethed, glaring at Nick.

"Vaun, calm yourself. Asagi will be here any moment with the stolen items, at which time you can put your desire to kill Nikolas out of your mind." Displeased with this, Vaun sheathed his sword and returned to the kitchen where he had left his haori.

Turning to the other two youths, Nick growled and introduction. "Nikolas Selket, Thief of the Desert."

"Kai Kaethan." the silver-haired boy said. "This is my home."

"Etsu Akira." the brunette girl said with a friendly enough smile.

"So, your sister was kind enough to fill me in on a few details, but I still don't know much about this enemy we're up against." Nick said, turning to Tenken, apparently ignoring the other two now that he had their names.

"Why don't you ask him." Tenken said, pointing towards Asagi. As one, all heads turned to Asagi, who in turn look behind herself in time to see a figure in an outfit much like Nick's, only the cloak was much black and long arm braces were fit around the attackers wrist and a small mask fit over the mouth and nose. In their hands was a knife, obviously of Egyptian craftsmanship.

What happened next happened in the blink of an eye as the man slashed down. A fraction of a second later there was an audible thud as the knife stuck into the floor, having missed its target thanks to Asagi's sudden show of agility.

"I thought I felt someone enter the slipstream I left when I brought Nick." Asagi deducted, sliding backwards.

"Yes, I was sent to eliminate you while you were separated from your brother, but it seems that I missed that chance." the assailant said in a feminine voice, sheathing their knife at their side and pulling down on the veil. "I get the feeling I don't stand a chance in actual combat now, so what do you say Asagi; a duel?" she asked in a sassy tone.

As she said these words, Kai and Etsu made to move forward, but both Tenken and Asagi extended arms out to block their path. Rising to her full height, Asagi lifted her left arm and a duel disk appeared, deck in place.

"She attacked Asagi." Tenken explained to Kai and Etsu. "As such, this is her battle."

"Aren't you worried for her?" Kai asked.

"Of course not." Tenken answered. "I have faith in her. Yes, I want her to be safe, but I am also aware of the fact that she is strong."

Stepping back slightly so as not to crowd the field, Kai began to turn this words over in his mind as the two duelists drew their opening hands. (ALP:4000)

"I am Kesi, and I will take your soul." the assailant said, drawing a sixth card. (KLP:4000) "I summon Anubite (1300/1600) in attack mode." Slapping the card onto her duel disk, a figure with the head of a jackal, a furry torso, long arms and springy legs appeared, dressed only in a crimson girdle. In each hand it held a long sickle. "When summoned it gains three hundred attack points, and it will gain a further two hundred during each of my standby phases." she explained as her monsters attack rose to sixteen hundred. "Then I will set a card face down and then I'll play the Seal of Orichalcos!"

Even as the face down card appeared, a green circle formed around the duelists, the six pointed star filling it. Seconds later the jackal creatures eyes began to glow with a blood red light as his attack his attack points rose to twenty-one hundred.

"Draw." Asagi called, glancing at her six cards. "I have no monsters in my hand." she declared, yet she continued to smile. Kai, Nick, Vaun, Etsu and Kesi each looked at her, confused. Why would Asagi make such a declaration? Tenken, on the other hand, had a knowing look in his eyes. "So now, I am allowed to special summon my Keimei-Goddess of the East Wind (2200/2200) from my deck to the field in attack mode!"

Surprised by this, everyone but her older brother watched Asagi's field as she placed the card she had searched out of her deck onto the field. A young woman with flowing black hair appeared, dressed in a scanty top that seemed to be some form of extremely light armor, apparently made of some green jewel and trimmed with gold, covering her shoulders, breasts, and ribs, but leaving just about the entirety of her remaining torso bare. Around her legs she wore a white skirt that reached just past her knees and was slit on both sides and down the front, most likely to allow a freer sense of movement.

"Impressive monster." Kesi commented with a dangerous flash in her eyes. She followed this up by reaching for her duel disk faster than anyone could react and pressed the activation button for her set card. "However, my trap card, Threatening Roar, prevents you from declaring an attack this turn."

Biting back a growl of annoyance, Asagi looked at her six cards. "I may not be able to attack, but I wont leave my monster to be destroyed so easily. I equip Keimei with Noble Hurricane, increasing her attack by four hundred, plus another five hundred for every wind monster on the field. As her name may suggest, Keimei is a wind-type monster."

As she explained her cards effect, a manacle appeared about her monsters forearm, from which extended two thin blades, perfectly parallel to each other. Each was about eighteen inches in length, and each ended in a forty-five degree angle so that together they made a single point.

"I also set three cards face down and end my turn." Asagi called as three face down card images appeared. Looking up from her two remaining cards in her hand, she nodded for Kesi to go.

As she drew, Kesi nodded to her Anubite, which was growing slightly in size as its power rose. Glancing at her drawn card, Kesi set it face down and then chose another card from her hand which she placed in a monster zone. "I summon First Knight of Jackal (1600+500/1350) in defense mode. When summoned it allows me to draw a card." she explained as a tall figure with fur covering its limbs and a jackals head appeared. Drawing a card for its effect, she set it face down and then nodded to Asagi, signaling that her turn was complete.

"I play the continuous magic card, Biting Wind." Asagi began as the image of the magic card appeared to her side. "Now, whenever I destroy one of your monsters in battle, you will take damage equal to that monsters level times one hundred." she explained, though Kesi didn't seem at all deterred by this. Regardless, Asagi either didn't notice, or didn't care how nonchalant her opponent was acting, raising her arm and pointing at her opponent. "Keimei (3100/2200), attack her Anubite (2300/1600)!" Springing forward with her legs, the dark-haired warrior pulled her right arm back, preparing to punch forward, allowing her weapon to pierce her target.

"You should know better than to corner an animal, because then they show their teeth!" Kesi shouted, activating one of her set cards. "Cornered Beast activates when a beast or beast-warrior monster on my field is attacked. My monsters attack is increased by its level times one hundred, and your monsters attack is decreased by the same amount, so that's four hundred each."

Instantly the Anubite's eyes flashed blood-red and it howled with a tone of desperation as its attack points rose to twenty-seven hundred. Asagi's monster, on the other hand, widened her eyes in shock and fear, tensing up, her attack points dropping to twenty-seven hundred. It was a draw!

The two monsters clashed, Asagi's spearing into the stomach of the opposing beast. Said monster had, at the same time, imbedded its paw into Keimei's heart. The two fell at the same moment, blood flowing for a few seconds before all traces vanished.

"Keimei may have fallen, but both her effect, as well as the effect of my Biting Wind will activate, dealing you four hundred points of damage and raising my life points by half of your monsters base attack." the blonde woman declared, as both life point meters ticked, one rising and the other dropping, although it wasn't a significant amount for either. (ALP:4750)(KLP:3600)

"You seem too confident." Kesi remarked as she drew. "Could it be that you are planning on defending with your face down cards?" Asagi said nothing. Disappointed, Kesi pouted for a few seconds and then proceeded with her turn. "I sacrifice First Knight of Jackal to summon Ghost Knight of Jackal (1700+500/1600). And when First Knight of Jackal is sacrificed to summon a jackal monster, that monster gains six hundred attack and defense points." she declared as another monster with a canine head and in Egyptian clothes appeared, riding an Arabian steed and wielding a jagged, double-bladed sword in its right hand. "Ghost Knight of Jackal (2800/2200), attack Asagi's life points directly!" Kicking its mount the monster charged in, arching it's weapon above its head for a wide sweeping slash.

"I activate Dark Wall of Air to defend against your direct attack." Asagi declared, sounding somewhat bored with the display as a sphere of visible black wind engulfed her, deflecting the blow. Pouting again, Kesi turned control back over to Asagi.

"I activate my face down card, Second Wind!" Asagi called as one of her two remaining set cards, this one to her right, flipped up. It was a trap displaying the image of Keimei, only her body was limp. Her arms looked held out to the sides by some unseen force, dangling from her elbows down. Her legs also were buckled, and her torso seemed to be leaning forward. However, in her eyes was a fierce look of renewed vigor. "This card revives a Goddess of the Wind to my field." Asagi explained as Keimei appeared, glaring at Kesi with a look of revenge in her eyes.

'_Impressive choice.'_ Kai noted from the side. _'She could have used that to bring back Keimei to block that direct attack last turn and save Dark Wall of Air for a later time, but chose to instead use it her magic card to protect herself and then revive her monster inn her turn. That way, she ensured that she did have a monster to play her other cards with in her turn.' _

Taking one of the three cards she held in her hand, Asagi inserted it into one of her magic slots. In response, a spiral of wind came to life all around the Ghost Knight of Jackal, quickly reaching speeds so great that it lifted the beast and its mount off of the ground and tossed them both into the air, quickly disappearing from sight.

Looking on in anger and confusion, Kesi turned to the only one who could provide an answer, who happened to be her opponent. With a knowing smirk, Asagi explained without needing to hear the question.

"My Whirlwind card sent your monster back to your hand. That simple." she explained, turning back to her field. "Keimei-Goddess of the East Wind, attack Kesi's life points directly!" she commanded.

Obediently, Keimei lifted both of her arms and began to weave them through the air in front of her. As she did this, a sphere of air so heavily concentrated that it was visible appeared in the space which her hands moved around. Once she had gathered enough power, Keimei reached back and then thrust her arms forward, her palms stopping less than an inch from striking the ball of wind, but it was enough. The sphere burst and became a thick funnel of wind which struck Kesi in the chest, throwing her back several feet and taking away more than sixty percent of her remaining life points. (KLP:1400)

"Also, when Keimei does life point damage to you, I get to draw a card." Asagi said, giving her three cards in hand once again.

"Filthy whore." Kesi spat as she drew a card, giving her four cards to choose from. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." she declared as a horizontal card appeared in front of her.

"Draw." Asagi called, pulled a fourth card into her hand. "Keimei, attack her set monster!" Again forming a sphere of wind, the wind-worker quickly smashed through the defending monster, which appeared for a moment, revealing a dog creature of some sort. "And now I will gain life points equal to half the attack points of your monster, while my Biting Wind card deals you damage for your monsters destruction."

"You get life points, but it doesn't matter to me." Kesi said as the dust settled, revealing a card set horizontal in front of her. At the same time, her life points dropped by three hundred. Blinking in surprise, Asagi just stared at the field for a moment or two before realizing that the monster she had destroyed must have allowed Kesi to summon another monster from her deck, since her hand was still the same size it had been seconds before.

"Hyena (1000/1000) summons another of its kinds to my field when destroyed in battle. Also," the Egyptian woman paused a moment as she tapped a button on her duel disk and her other set card flipped up. "Michizure activates, taking your monster to the grave at the same time mine does." she explained as a massive arm reached out of a pit that formed. It groped around at the ground for a few moments before grasping Keimei and pulling her into the crevasse.

"Very well, I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Asagi consented as another card appeared before her. Now she only had her face up magic card and two face down to protect her. At the same time, her life points rose due to the effect of her late monster. (ALP:5250)(KLP:1100)

"Why has she only used one monster all duel?" Nick asked of no one in particular.

"Because, she only has four monsters in all of her deck." Tenken answered, though he continued to watch the duel as his sisters opponent drew a card.

"Only four monsters?" Kai gasped in shock. "Then what's she going to do now?"

"She'll win." Tenken answered simply.

"Not likely." Kesi laughed as she glanced at her new card, having obviously overheard them talking. "I sacrifice my face down Hyena to summon my Ghost Knight of Jackal (1700+500/1600), and then have him attack your life points directly!" In a flash, the horse-mounted jackal figure appeared, twirled his weapon about for a few seconds, and then galloped across the field, slashing at Asagi's unprotected body. (ALP:3050)

Taking two cards from her hand, Kesi placed them face down into her magic zones, ending her turn. Now she had a solid attacker and a standard wall behind it. It did not bode well for Asagi as she drew her card, giving her four cards.

"I play Monster Reincarnation, discarding a card to return Keimei to my hand from my graveyard." Asagi declared as she played the magic card, slipping a card into her graveyard as she took back a different one. "Next I will use another of Keimei's effects, shuffling her into my deck from my hand to place a different Goddess of the Wind into my hand from my deck." he explained as she took her deck out and shuffled the retrieved card into the stack and then taking another card out. Shuffling again, she set the cards back into her duel disk.

"Now, since I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon Keitaku-Goddess of the North Wind (2200/2200) to the field in attack mode." Another maiden appeared on Asagi's field, this one with platinum blonde hair that hung normal down to the base of her neck, where it was then tied together and hung in a thin strand for another foot or so. She wore a black priestess top and white hakama, both of which had been modified to more tightly fit her body to allow her to better batter. Also around her head she wore a silver tiara.

Looking at her remaining three cards a moment a moment longer, Asagi passed to Kesi. Then, as an afterthought, she said "It's a shame you and I couldn't duel on friendlier terms. I would have liked to enjoy this. I would never wish the loss of their soul on anyone, least of all someone with such a strong spirit."

"What are you trying to say?" Kesi asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically, seeming to forget the card she had drawn.

"I'm saying that I don't understand why you would risk your soul in a duel against someone you don't know, let alone have a grudge against." Asagi responded, her voice very solemn.

Kesi, however, did not bare a look of regret or sorrow. No, she appeared completely baffled! Shocked that someone could speak to her so sincerely. As such, she just stood there, her body frozen, cards clutched between her fingers but she seemed completely unaware that she held them as she stared at Asagi in wonder.

Realizing that she had been staring dumbly in silence, she shook her head and glanced at her new card. Then she turned back to Asagi as she picked a card out of her hand. "I'm a mercenary. People have someone they don't like, they hire me to get rid of them. I don't ask questions, I just collect my pay."

Slapping the card she had chosen onto her duel disk, she waited again in silence as another jackal creature appeared, this one with a ravenous look in his eyes and the beginnings of foam in his fangs. Seconds later the Seal of Orichalcos activated once again, adding its power to the new monster.

"This is my Berserker Knight of Jackal (1900+500/1500)." she explained. "Now I'll have my monster attack!" Howling into the air, the canine flexed its upper body, its muscles rippling and its hands clenching and unclenching. Then, in the blink of an eye is charged up to Asagi's field and lifted one of its clawed hands, readying its attack.

Swinging down, it stopped suddenly, a few inches short of ripping Asagi's monster to pieces. Shocked, Kesi's mouth hung open a moment until she saw what had stopped her monster.

A collar, made purely of air, had appeared around her monsters neck, holding it back. The collar itself was connected to a chain of air, which split into two chains and led back to Kesi's field. In particular, back to her face down cards, acting like anchors.

"My trap card, Wind Line, forces you to sacrifice one magic or trap card from your field for each of your attacks you launch this turn. If you sacrifice all of your magic or trap cards to attack, your battle phase will end after the last card is sacrificed." Asagi explained as the jackal continued to struggle against the binding.

"Fine," Kesi snapped, slashing her arm through the air. "I will give up my face down Judgement of Anubis to have Berserker Knight of Jackal destroy Keitaku!" Without another word, the card exploded, and with its destruction, the chain straightened out, becoming a single line between the jackal and Kesi's lone set card, giving the extra length needed for the dog to slash through Keitaku, destroying her, dealing Asagi two hundred points of damage. (ALP:2850)

With a snap of her fingers, Kesi's second face down card shattered, and her Berserker Knight of Jackal reared back again, as if preparing for another attack.

"But your monster already attacked this turn." Asagi said, surprised by the monster lumbering towards her.

"Yes, but when Berserker Knight of Jackal destroys a monster and sends it to the grave, it is allowed to attack again this turn." Kesi explained, flashing another sassy smile. The chain and collar had vanished entirely with the loss of Kesi's second face down card, so there would be nothing to hold the jackal back. Raising its arm back, it slashed down, leaving five parallel lines of red on Asagi's arm, which she had lifted to protect herself, taking away most of her remaining life points. (ALP:450)

"My turn is over." Kesi declared as she set one card face down, meaning she now had three cards in hand. Drawing, Asagi looked her four card hand and sighed.

"I play Wind Chime, reviving Keitaku-Goddess of the North Wind (2200/2200) and adding five hundred attack points to her score." she started as the blonde maiden appeared, a peaceful scowl on her face. "Next I will use Keitaku's effect to discard a card from my hand to then place a card of the same type into my hand from my graveyard. So, I will discard my Balanced Sins to reclaim a magic card." she explained, slipping the card into her graveyard and then taking back the one offered to her by her duel disk.

"Also, since Balanced Sins went to the graveyard, it will destroy one card on your field. As such, I shall destroy your Berserker Knight." Even as she finished explaining her card, the chosen monster fell to its knees, arms out on the ground before it as if pleading forgiveness. However, it's silent begging went unheard as it shattered to pieces only seconds later. "Keitaku-Goddess of the North Wind (2700/2200), attack Ghost Knight of Jackal now!"

"I activate my face down card, Curse of Anubis!" Kesi interrupted as a stone alter appeared with the figure of a sitting jackal atop it appeared. From it fired a blast of black lightning, striking both Keitaku and Ghost Knight of Jackal, forcing them into a crouch, panting and sweating hard. "This forces our monsters to defense mode, removes their effect, and reduces their defense to zero."

"Then I will end my turn." Asagi responded, again sounding very solemn. "Kesi, what could have made you want to become a mercenary, risking you life and soul just so that you may commit horrendous crimes?" she suddenly asked, again catching the Egyptian woman off guard. "What were you promised?"

"You're too damn perceptive." Kesi hissed, looking at her drawn card. "You want to know why I don't give a damn if I kill someone? I'll tell you. Because mankind is a lost cause. There was a man once whom I was hopelessly in love with. One night, however, he came to my home, panting for breath, asking for a place to hide out. Of course I invited him in. However, when I asked him who he was running from, his expression changed. He said he wasn't running from anyone, that he just needed an excuse to come in."

As Kesi unraveled her story, Kai and the others watched with baited breath. Kai himself instantly realized where this story was going, though he wasn't sure if the others had figured it out. Looking to his side, he noticed that Etsu's eyes were beginning to expand, and Vaun's face was twisting into a look of disgust. Tenken, on the other hand, remained focused, though his eyes betrayed a sense of sorrow for the coming details. Nick, however, appeared completely indifferent, a scowl on his face and his one eye closed.

Unaware of any of this, Kesi continued with her tale. "He kissed me. It was hard and cold, void of that tender spirit he had used to share with me. When I pulled back, he instantly became angry with me and struck me in the side of the head, rendering me unconscious. When I awoke, I as bound to my bed and stripped of my garments. And, standing by the beds side was that bastard, a depraved look in his eyes. He accused me off holding out on him for too long; that I had denied him what was rightfully his for his years of 'devotion' to me. Then, he said nothing more as he callously and mercilessly ravished me."

Nursing her cut arm, Asagi continued to listen to her opponent pour her soul out, a look of deep sorrow in her eyes. It was obvious that she could not sympathize with such an experience, but it did not mean that she could not feel pity for this girls misfortune.

"He abandoned me after that night. Shortly after that, I learned that he was robbed and murdered, and then forgotten. Then I realized how pointless humans were. They turn on each other without a second thought and sacrifice one another for foolish purposes. I have no desire to hurry up the end of the world, but I also have no hesitations to end a persons life."

"Is that so?" Asagi asked.

"It is." Kesi declared, playing her drawn card as a magic card. "This is my Hunting Pack magic card, summoning two level four or lower beast or beast-warrior monsters from my deck to the field." she declared as two more jackal monsters appeared, one actually baring wings on its back, and the other armed with a glimmering blade of a bluish hue. "These are Storming Knight of Jackal (1500+500/1000) and Dimension Knight of Jackal (1400+500/900). Then I switch Ghost Knight of Jackal to attack mode."

"Tenken, she's going to lose!"

Turning to their left, Kai, Etsu, Tenken and Vaun all gave a look at surprise to Nick, who had narrowed his eye to focus tightly on the field. However, much to Kai amazement, the seemingly smug thief had a glimmer of desperation in his eye.

"You are making the same mistake as Kesi." Tenken nearly laughed. "You're underestimating her."

"You, shut up!" Kesi snapped at the group on the sidelines. Turning back to the duel, she smiled coyly. "Ghost Knight of Jackal, attack Keitaku-Goddess of the North Wind!" Kicking his mount with his heels, the beast monster charged, swinging his weapon around for the attack. "And, when it destroys your monster, that monster will be special summoned to my field in defense mode, for me to use as I wish."

"I cannot allow that." Asagi responded, activating her set card. "Wind Diffusion destroys your attacking monster." she declared as Kesi's monster was suddenly surrounded by a vortex of wind, the sheer force of its spin ripping the monster apart. "Next, your monsters attack will be divided by its level. Since your monster had twenty-two hundred attack points when destroyed, and was a level five monster, that is four hundred and forty points. That will now be deducted from your remaining monsters attack points." she explained as the spiral of wind split into two, each of which drilled into a target monster, which then hunched over in pain as their attack points dropped.

"No!" Kesi shrieked in shock. Already she understood what this meant. She already knew what Asagi had planned, what card she had taken back last turn with Keitaku's effect. She knew that she had lost. "Why are you fighting?" she suddenly demanded. "What makes you different from me?"

"Because your brought this fight to me, and because I have hope for humanity. Draw!" Asagi called, whipping the card off of her deck. "Keitaku, return to your attack position." Rising from her crouch, the wind mistress glared at the two hound monsters, both of which were much weaker than she. "I play my Spirit of the Wind card. Discarding a wind monster from my deck, I may destroy either all monsters or magic and trap cards on your field." she explained as she took the card from her deck and flipped it around to reveal Keimei-Goddess of the East Wind. Seconds later a ghostly figure of Keimei appeared and washed over Kesi's field, destroying her two monsters.

Finally, Asagi held up the card she had taken back from her grave when she had used Keitaku's effect. "Wind Chime magic card to special summon Keimei-Goddess of the East Wind with an added five hundred attack points." In a flash, the black-haired woman appeared. "Keitaku (2700), Keimei (2700), attacker her life points directly!" As one, the women forged spheres of wind which they fired at Kesi, eliminating her remaining life points. (KLP:0)

Seconds later, the Seal of Orichalcos retracted, becoming a round column of light. Moments later it faded, leaving everyone in place, but one very hollow.

_To Be Continued..._

There you go. Yeah, really not my best work, but when you get desperate enough, you'll write just about anything. But, now on to better things.

Also, I must apologize. Last chapter we had the character Gregory. When I started that chapter, I had in mind the Russian pronounciation, which would be spelled Grigori. That is why it was so odd for some of you to read, no doubt.

Also, original cards you should be able to tell for yourselves. Basically, all but maybe three cards used in this entire chapter are mine. Back off! Off I say!

_The Guardians have gathered together, but now it is time for Kai to serve his purpose as the Guardian of Time and unleash the memories locked with him. But even as he does so, the Guardians are faced with new challenges and new circumstances.  
Next Time-Lost Ages  
_


	6. Lost Ages

Time for Kai to have another duel (finally).

**Chapter Five-Lost Ages**

"How's she doing?" Etsu asked, looking up at Tenken as he came in from another room. Leaning up against a wall near the door frame that he had just come through, the Guardian folded his arms, and tilted his head forward.

"Asagi used up significantly more than half of her energy transporting Nikolas here. Not only is she less experienced at it than I am, but she wasn't exactly sure of where exactly to teleport to. As such, she had to divide her concentration in order to pinpoint my location. However, splitting her attention like this caused a great deal of power to leek out. Then there was the duel with Kesi, which although it didn't use much of her power, it was enough of a catalyst to overwhelm my sister." he explained, although he didn't seem at all bothered by the fact that moments after winning her duel, his little sister had suddenly collapsed.

'_He doesn't seem to show any type of concern for the people around him, much like how Kai does. However, Kai does have his limits of what he can and can't take. Not only that, but underneath his callousness, Kai really does care about everyone. But I can't tell if that's the case for Tenken or not.'_ Etsu mused, turning back to her deck, which she was sifting through. Turning her head up towards the room opposite her she found her attention waver again.

"Those two are still at it? I don't understand why they have to be like this." she commented to herself.

"It's because they see their own talents cancelling each other out, meaning that they're equals, something neither of them wants to accept." a voice explained. Turning up to the stairs, Etsu smiled as Kai walked down. "They view each other as polar opposites, and for men such as themselves it's hard to deal with the fact that you have an equal. Nick is perhaps the greatest thief in generations, based on what he's said. He's a gifted fighter, a cunning strategist, and very cutthroat. Vaun, on the other hand, can be just as merciless, is an even better fighter, and he can track Nick's movements. They have both always considered them the best at what they do, but now they have met a rival in the other; one who can't beat them, yet one they can't beat. It's frustrating for men of pride to handle."

"How childish." Etsu dismissed the issue, turning back to her deck. Then, smiling with a hint of mischief, she turned back to Kai, who was re-tying his hair, his eyes pointed down, unaware of the sly look she was giving him. "Kai, if you're so good at interpreting how people think and feel, then why don't you analyze me?"

At these words, Kai's eyes snapped wide and his body went rigid. Turning to face Etsu, he was startled to see her approaching him, apparently trying to look seductive. Quickly looping his hair through the band that would hold it in place, he turned to Tenken and uttered in a rushed tone "I'll take up my watch now." and slipped out the front "door", batting aside the blanket they had hung there to serve as a temporary entree.

Pouting slightly, Etsu returned to her seat and picked her cards back up. As she removed a magic card and slipped it into the case on her hip, she was startled as Tenken spoke.

"You could always tell him rather than showing him."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sitting on the porch steps, Kai hung his head and raised his right arm to massage his brow. There was far too much going on, but he now found himself distracted with something else entirely.

"She came onto me again. And this time she was completely different, trying to act like a seductive school girl. Frankly, if she wants to flirt with me, I'd much rather she go back to her previous methods of being kind and soothing."

Shaking his head, he looked up at the stars as they appeared one at a time, appreciating the silence. Precious silence that he been lost two days ago when Vaun had first arrived for an overnight visit. Normally Kai didn't mind short bursts of excitement, but he had never expected it to be of this magnitude...

And still he found all of his thoughts coming back around to Etsu, no matter how hard he tried to think about the pressing matters of the Dark Guardians and the Court of Eternity!

"What is this power she has over me?" he asked aloud, as if expecting Heaven itself to answer. When he received no response, he continued, "Yes, she is beautiful. Yes, I like her a lot. I want to be with her. But I can't get past myself. I keep holding myself back. I keep on denying myself. I thought I was over the past. I thought that I was starting anew!"

Still no answer.

"Why can't I say it? Why can't I say those three small words? I can't even admit it to myself, let alone her!"

Silence.

XXXXXXXXXX

In the small living room of Kai's house, Nikolas Selket, Dark Thief of the Desert, stood, his lone eye laser focused. Across from him stood Vaun Hiten, heir to two of Japans greatest swordsmen, his body tense, ready to make a rapid counter in response to even the slightest twitch.

And respond he did, as Nick suddenly seemed to vanish from view, a fraction of a second later at Vaun's side, reaching for an object tied to Vaun's obi. Noticing Nick's movements, Vaun pivoted on his toes and leaned backwards, performing a rapid back flip to escape while at the same time kicking away Nick's arm.

Coming out of the crouch which he had landed in, Vaun was startled that Nick was already in his face, again reaching for his belt. In surprise, Vaun grabbed his sword and began to unsheathe it, the force of the pull sending the hilt sailing into Nick's arm, again deterring the grab.

Taking Nick's moment of disruption, Vaun reached to the right side of his waist and unsheathed a short kodachi, which he then lunged at Nick with. In response, Nick ducked low, swept Vaun's legs out from under him, and then sprang to his full height while he completed his spin.

Thrusting his left arm down, Vaun caught himself on his palm and used his momentum to twirl around, coming to a rest on one knee, his right arm thrusting towards Nick, only to stop with his arm outstretched when he noticed the small knife in his face, Nick's arm outstretched.

'_A draw?'_ Vaun cursed within his mind. _'Again? Are we that even? He keeps on trying to take the bell from me, but he can't. I, on the other hand, can't seem to land any kind of finishing blow on him!'_

Glaring at Nick, he was surprised when the thief loosened his arm, retracting his knife and turning away. Blinking in surprise, his muscles slightly loosening in shock, Vaun simply stared as Nick shook with light laughter.

"What are you snickering at?" he demanded. Nick did not answer, but simply shook his head as his laughter died slightly. Finally, the man of the desert decided to cast over his shoulder a comment, since Vaun had simply continued to bore into his back with his stare.

"I just find it odd that, even though that's our twenty-third skirmish, we don't seem to get any headway."

"And why is that so amusing?" Vaun asked, his voice rather curt.

"Because," Nick said, turning his head to look over his left shoulder, though he couldn't see anything since that eye was no longer there. "The definition of insanity is when you try and do the exact same thing over and over again, expecting a different result."

XXXXXXXXXX

Rubbing some fatigue from his eyes, Kai glanced once again at the stars, which still hung in serenity over his home. Though he didn't like to admit it, he was very envious of those stars. They never spoke or moved, yet people still turned to them, looking for hope and for answers to questions. They didn't need to speak, yet people still seemed to get their answers anyway.

"To live for millennia, seemingly eternity, they've been looking down on this earth. They know more about the events of our history than any archive. They have the experience to deal with any situation." he breathed deeply in reverence. Casting his eyes back up to the dots of light, he found himself muttering "What should I do?"

"Hey, you Kai Kaethan?"

Tensing up instantly, Kai snapped his head down to look forward. Coming up the path to his house was a young man, probably about Vaun's age, with light brown hair, wearing jeans with a white t-shirt and a black vest hanging open. Strapped to his arm was a silver duel disk, deck in place.

Wearily Kai watched the boy as he approached. He seemed pleasant enough. No ominous appearance, no insane cackle, nothing implying he was here for any sinister purpose. After just a moment the boy came to a halt, standing the perfect distance from Kai that would be needed for a duel.

Leaning in, the boy squinted his eyes to try and see Kai better in the dim light. Moments later his face split into a wide and excited grin as he happily declared "It's you! It's really you! The world champion. I recognize you from the picture taken of you after you won Battle City!"

Relaxing, Kai realized that this young man was just another young duelist looking for a duel with him do to his title.

"I'm sorry, but if you want to duel with me, you'll have to come back another day. It's late, and I'm having to take of some...business over the next few days." he responded.

"Oh, come on, it'll only take a little while. Besides, you seem tense. A duel will help you feel better."

"I'm afraid that I must ask you to wait till a later date." Kai responded, his voice gaining a bit of an edge. He suddenly found himself feeling uneasy. Looking at the boy as if for the first time, he noticed that the young man seemed to be deliberating something, and as he pondered, a sense of foreboding struck Kai. It was as if the wind, sound, everything, had shifted just as this boys thoughts did.

"They said that you might try and make excuses to try and avoid dueling me." he growled. "Which is why they gave me this!" he said, whipping the top card off of his deck. Instantly Kai felt the dark energy burst from the card, and knew what was going to happen. The young mans duel disk began to whir and the field card zone opened. He slammed the card into it before Kai could make any objection, and instantly the two were surrounded by a ring of green light.

"You idiot!" Kai shouted at the boy. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Of course I do." the boy responded, drawing five cards from his deck. "This card makes it so that you can't leave. Not only that, but my monsters all get a five hundred point attack boost."

Clenching his hands into fists and gritting his teeth, Kai glared at the boy for a few seconds longer. Obviously the kid didn't know about the penalty for using this card. _'The Dark Guardians must have given him the card and told him just that much. They must have promised him that if he used it he'd get his chance to duel me, and that it would give him a better chance at beating me.'_

"Hey, can we get started?" the kid asked, his voice dripping with impatience. "I wanna show you just how good I am."

Sighing in defeat, Kai closed his eyes and reached for his belt. "Very well," Pulling his deck from his waist, he inserted it into his duel disk. "But before we begin, let's return to a more formal environment. My name is Kai Kaethan, current world champion." He drew five cards. (KLP:4000)

"And I'm Kira Kondo." the boy replied. (KiLP:4000)

"As champion, I'll go first." Kai said, drawing a sixth card. Adding it to his hand, he chose a different one and placed it onto his duel disk. Seconds later a horizontal card appeared in front of him. "One monster in defense mode and two cards behind it. End."

"My move." Kira called as he drew a card. Glancing at his drawn card he quickly laid it down on his field. The monster that appeared taller than either player, with olive skin. It's body was quite muscular, covered in a teal shirt and gray pants. However, it's face was what separated it from being human. It was beastly, with a wide jaw filled with fangs. In its hands was clutched a long pole with a curved blade at either end. "This is my Vorse Raider (1900+500/1200). Next I set one card face down, and then I'll have my Vorse Raider attack your monster!" Howling into the night, Vorse Raider hefted its weapon and sprinted across the field, slashing Kai's set card in half, which quickly revealed itself to be a man in white robes.

"You've destroyed Immortal Magister (700/1000), allowing me to draw a card and set another from my deck onto my field in defense mode." Kai explained as he took the card from his deck and set it onto his field. "Also, since my magician was destroyed I'll activate my set card known as Time Helix which activates when a spellcaster is destroyed, and summons two Eternity Tokens (600/600) on my field." he explained as two men in deep crimson clothes appeared on his field, crouching on either side of the set monster.

"That's such a cool move." Kira complimented with a smile. "Then again, you are the World Champion. Anyway, that ends my turn."

Drawing a card, Kai looked his options over. With a sigh, he folded the cards up and passed his turn without making a move, despite the fact that he had five cards in his hand.

"No move?" Kira raised an eyebrow, but shook it off almost immediately as he added the card he drew to his hand and then slapped a different one onto his monster zone. "I summon Super Vorse Raider (1900+500/1200) in attack mode." The monster that appeared looked just like his normal Vorse Raider, only in armor that seemed to be of a more futuristic brand in place of the thin fabric garments of the first monster. "And I'll have both of my monsters attack your Immortal Magister, and then the one that will be summoned in his place!"

First to move was the first Vorse Raider, hefting his weapon and crouching his legs slightly before springing forward, arms arched back. Seconds later he was in striking distance and swung down with all of his might, severing the card in half, only to be replaced by another horizontal card, which the armored monster cut in half equally fast.

Nodding, Kai drew two cards, meaning he now held seven cards in hand. Not only that, but he'd draw another card at the start of his turn. That meant he would have to play at least two of them, or he'd have to discard cards to keep his hand at six.

"Since all three Immortal Magister's have been sent to the grave they are automatically shuffled back into my deck." Kai explained as his graveyard ejected three cards into his hand, which he then quickly shuffled into his deck before returning it to it's holster.

"What do we have here?" a voice asked, sounding both casual and tense at the same time. Turning around, Kai noticed Nikolas as the one who had spoken, his lone eye reflecting the light emitted by the Seal, his arms hanging loose behind his back. Seconds later Kai's eyes adjusted to seeing through the bright light of the Seal and into the darkness of the night outside of it, and noticed that Tenken, Etsu and Vaun were also watching from the hole that had once been the door.

"How long have you all been there?" Kai asked, turning back to an impatient Kira.

"Since the Seal was activated." Vaun spoke. Mentally shrugging, Kai looked his cards over, then up at Kira, who was holding one of his four remaining cards apart from the others.

"I set one card face down and end my turn."

Picking up his eighth card, Kai made the move he already had planned. Quickly grabbing one of his cards he slid it into his duel disk and the holographic image of said card flipped up, revealing a magic card. "I play With Time Comes Wisdom to sacrifice one of my Eternity Tokens to special summon a spellcaster from my hand or deck whose level is at least three greater than the one I sacrifice."

One of the crimson robed magicians dissolved into a mess of lights, replaced moments later by a man in black robes with a white over-robe. Clasping a staff in his hands, he fixed Kira's field with a hard stare, ready for battle.

"Time Mage is a level five monster." he explained. "Also, when an Eternity Token leaves the field I get to draw a card." Again returning his hand to eight, Kai took in any new options he had available to him. "I play Eternity Ring. This magic card destroys one of your monsters and raises my life points by your monsters level multiplied by two hundred."

In the air above Kai formed a massive blue halo, at least three feet in diameter. Within it one could see a plethora of runes and symbols spinning rapidly. In many ways it seemed to be related to the Seal of Orichalcos. Silently the ring came to life, darting from its post above Kai's field and severing the normal Vorse Raider in half at the chest, causing the arms to fall individually on either side of the two pieces of the carcass. At the same time, Kai's life point meter began to tick upwards. (KLP:4800)

"Now I must pay five hundred life points to shuffle Eternity Ring back into my deck, no questions asked." he continued, taking the magic card and inserting it into his deck while most of the life points he had just gained faded away. (KLP:4300)

Next Kai grabbed two of his cards at once and inserted them both. They activated immediately, both being magic cards and each with the symbol on them for being a continuous card. From the flashing cards walked out two women in silk gowns, the first being a young girl with blue hair tied into long pigtails on either side of her head, ending past her waist. The other was older, seeming to be in her mid-twenties with blonde hair that was cut short.

"These are Goddess Skuld's Oracle," he nodded to the younger girl. "And Goddess Urd's Altar." he waved to the blonde woman. "These two are part of a triad of goddesses who look over the flow of time. Skuld is the watcher of Future and Urd is over Past. On my next turn you'll see what they do, since they activate during my standby phase."

Now holding five cards, Kai chose another and slapped it onto a monster zone. "I summon Time Paladin (1900/1800) in attack mode."

"But...my Super Vorse Raider is still stronger because of the Seal of Orichalcos." Kira said, confused.

"Yes, but I still have plenty of cards to play with." Kai said, holding up his four card hand before taking one of the mentioned cards and slipping it into another magic zone, meaning all but one were filled. "Magicians Cross will allow my two monsters to attack as one this turn with an attack power of three thousand."

The two monsters crossed their weapons and began to charge energy to at the point of intersection, growing rapidly. After a short time had passes they pointed the weapons away from the sky and towards Kira's field. Sliding the staff and sword along each others length, causing them to break in a sweeping motion, releasing a wave of energy that cut through the armored monster. (KiLP:3400)

"You've activated Super Vorse Raider's special ability." Kira called, smirking slightly. "When destroyed, I can special summon up to two Vorse Raiders or Super Vorse Raiders from my deck." he explained as two cards were ejected from his deck, which he took and then placed onto his duel disk. "I summon another Vorse Raider and Super Vorse Raider (1900/1200 x2) to my field."

"Turn end." Kai declared, seemingly ignoring the fact that Kira had, in essence, restored his field to the way it had been moments before.

Drawing a card, placing him at four, Kira began his turn. Adding the card to his hand he plucked a different card which he lay down. The monster that appeared was much like the previous monsters, humanoid body structure with dark skin and a beastly face. However, in place of the glaive that both of Kira's previous monsters had wielded, the one had two swords that had been made by taking two long metal poles and pounding them until they had edges, and as such lacked hilts or guards.

"This is Vorse Striker (1800+500/1100)." Kira declared, fiddling with another card in his hand. "Next I play Card Destruction, so we each discard our current hands and draw new ones of the same number that we toss." he explained, dumping his two cards into his graveyard while Kai had to give up three. Glancing at his new cards, Kira called out his next command. "Super Vorse Raider, attack Time Mage!" Twisting its weapon in its hand, the monster charged at Kai's monster, preparing to slash it in half vertically.

Snapping his fingers, Kai's face down card flipped up to reveal a quick-play magic card. "Magical Dimension requires me to have a spellcaster on my field to activate. By sacrificing a monster, in this case my final Eternity Token, I can destroy one monster on your field and then special summon a magician from my hand."

"Denied!" Kira shouted as his own set card flipped up, revealing a trap card. "Hand to Hand Combat negates all magic and trap cards played during battle this turn." he explained as the golden sarcophagus that had emerged from Kai's card suddenly exploded from within, it's effect negated.

With nothing else he could do, Kai watched as the very first monster his soul had created was slashed in half, but not before he had thrust the pronged head of his staff into the attacking monsters chest and fired a burst of energy that burned a hole in the monster. Both shattered to millions of fragments of computer data.

"And since a Super Vorse Raider was destroyed, I get to special summon the last one, as well as my last normal Vorse Raider from my deck." Kira grinned as two new monsters just like the previous ones appeared. That gave Kira four monsters total.

"I see." Vaun spoke from his position on the sidelines. "Makes sense. Vorse Raider was originally made as the first level four monster with such a high attack power, but no drawback. It was one of the best rush cards out there, and it would seem that this guy has managed to utilize that quality of theirs into a single deck. It may even be better at swarming than my warriors ever were."

"That may be," Etsu said, continuing to watch the duel. "But Kai still can't lose."

Seemingly deaf to the outsiders, Kira continued with his move. "Super Vorse Raider (2400), attack Time Paladin (1900/1800)!" Much to Kira's surprise, though, his monster did not respond in any way. Turning to look at his monster, his temper began to get the better of him. "I said attack! Attack him, dammit!"

"That wont work." Kai interrupted. "You see, you no longer have a battle phase."

"What?" Kira asked, startled by these words. In response, Kai held up his hand, which had three cards, same as he'd held when he had ended his turn. _'Except he drew a card from when he sacrificed his token, didn't he?'_

"When you destroyed Time Mage, I discarded a monster known as Time Slider (1500/2000), which ended your battle phase and prevents you from playing any more cards this turn, except those you already have on the field." the champion duelist explained.

"Fine, my turn ends."

"Draw." Kai began, returning him to four cards. "First off is the power of my Goddess Skuld's Oracle. Draw three cards but do not look at them. Instead, show them to me." Confused, Kira drew the cards and fanned them out so that they were facing Kai, who looked examined the cards for a moment before making his decision. "Move the middle one to the top and then return them to your deck." Doing so, Kira looked over at Kai's other goddess, expecting her to take some sort of action. Noticing this, Kai spoke up, "Don't worry about Urd, she can't use her ability since you don't have any set cards."

Looking at his new card, Kai smiled slightly. "I play Magic Well to search my deck for a magic card and place it into my hand, but I can't use that card this turn." he explained as he fanned his deck out, chose the card he wanted, and then returned the rest of the cards after shuffling.

Taking another card from his hand, he turned it around to show Kira what it was. "Mischief of the Goddess Time speeds time up by one turn." he explained before reaching for the card he had searched out less than a minute ago. "So now I can play this card, Goddess Bellandy's Guardian." Between the two women appeared another maiden, this one with pink hair that hung down to her shoulders.

"Now three magic cards have been played since I summoned Time Paladin, meaning I can now activate his special ability, sacrificing three of them to destroy a card on your field." Kai continued as the sword wielding magician slashed his weapon straight down, releasing a thin stream of light which instantly cut the Super Vorse Raider in half, just as its predecessor had done to Time Mage.

"I switch Time Paladin to defense mode and sent one card face down." Kai concluded, leaving him with just one card in hand.

"You can't beat me by just getting rid of one Vorse Raider." Kira smirked. "I can just summon new ones at least twice as fast." Keeping his drawn card in his right hand, he used the same hand to pluck a card from his hand which he then inserted into his magic zone, activating the magic card. "I play Medicine Eater, and then I sacrifice my Vorse Striker (2300) for my Vorse Lord (2500+500/1800) in attack mode."

The monster was much like the others before it, and yet it was drastically different. It was decked out in thick armor all over its body rather than thin fabric. Instead of a large, slack jaw it was closed, though two fangs did show themselves curling over its upper lip. In place of the thick headband of all the previous Vorse monsters, this ones head was bare of extra accessories, allowing two thin horns to curl out from his forehead and back, nearly piercing into the back of its own head. Finally, grasped in each hand was what appeared to be a cross between a trident and a sword, their handles shortened for single handed use and the center blades, being the only ones for actually attacking, were elongated.

"And Medicine Eater is a rather unique card. I activate in the turn that I perform a sacrifice summon, and the monster I summon receives half of the attack points of the monster sacrificed to summon it, as well as its effect." Kira went on to explain after his monsters appearance had set in and as its attack points rose by nine hundred.

"And what was the effect of your Vorse Striker?" Kai asked.

"Vorse Striker is actually one of my favorites. After destroying a monster, he is allowed to attack again." Kira answered. "Also, I will now activate Vorse Lord's personal ability. Once during my turn, so long as I have a monster with 'Vorse' in its name in play I am allowed to special summon another Vorse monster from my deck or graveyard."

Without pause, Kira's field flashed and another monster appeared. However, must to Kai's and everybody else's shock it was not at all like the other monsters. No, it was a massive dog, the size of a large horse. It's fur was pitch black and extremely shaggy, and its features were very wolf-like.

"This is Vorse Hound (1300/600), whom I will now union to my Vorse Lord, raising his attack by a further six hundred!" Kira called as his heavy-armored monster mounted the dog, his attack points coming to a rest at forty-five hundred.. "And since my Vorse Lord has been equipped with Vorse Hound he is unaffected by targeting card effects."

"Truly impressive." Kai commented honestly. It was impressive that Kira could summon a monster and make it nearly double in strength so quickly.

"Heh, compliments from the champion. How cute." Kira chuckled. "Of course, I'm about to take that title. Vorse Lord (4500), attack."

Kicking his mount with his heels, the armored monster began his charge, lifting both of his weapons to his left side in preparation for a parallel strike. Within seconds he was within range and struck, only for his weapons to be deflected at the last second by a column of gold light that had suddenly appeared around Kai's monster.

"Before you ask, I'll tell you. When you attacked I activated Magicians Circle of Light, which prevents you from targeting my spellcasters for the remainder of the turn." Kai explained, holding up the trap card.

"Fine, I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Kira concluded, leaving him without any cards in hand. Then, as an afterthought, he said "This is fun, isn't it. I never expected I'd get to face the world champion. Then again, I also didn't expect him to be so weak."

"Weak?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow. Turning back to his two cards, he tried to think of a plan. "First off, my three Goddesses will use their effects, beginning with Skuld." he called and the youngest of the three raised her staff, smacking its head against the ground, sending a vibration throughout the field. Nodding, Kira drew the top three cards and showed them to Kai. "Switch the bottom and top one around." he commanded and Kira did so. "Now to show you what makes this combination so deadly. Bellandy allows me to guess the top card of your deck. If am I correct then you must set it face down on the field. So, set your second Vorse Hound onto the field." Grimacing, Kira took the top card off of his deck, noticed that Kai was, of course, correct about which card it was, and then set it on the field. "And now for Urd's effect. I name one face down card on your field, and if I am correct, then that card is removed from play." he explained. "So now Vorse Hound is removed from play."

As he lifted the card off of his duel disk and inserted it into his back pocket, Kira realized exactly what this meant. He didn't have any cards in his hand, and now Kai could arrange his cards to be drawn however he wanted.

"You really are the world champion, aren't you?"

Sighing, Kai continued to look at the card in his hand before turning to look at his companions outside of the Seal, coming to focus on Tenken. "Even if I am, there are duelists out there stronger than I."

"Heh, doesn't matter. My monster is too strong for you to overpower. Eventually I'll burn through your defenses, no matter how to try and stack my cards. It's only a matter of time." Kira declared.

"I summon Guardian Magician of the Future (1800/1500) in defense mode." Kai called, slapping the card onto his duel disk. "Then I play my magic card, Twilight Renewal to draw five cards since my hand is now empty."

Quickly pulling the new cards free, Kai examined his new hand. "I play Poison of the Old Man to increase my life points by twelve hundred." he declared as an elderly man appeared and offered Kai a thin flask with a purple liquid bubbling within it. Graciously, Kai accepted the bottle and downed the elixir in a single gulp. (KLP:5500)

"Now I play Eternity Ring to destroy one of your normal Vorse Raiders." Again the blue disk appeared above Kai's head before easily severing the target monster in half, raising Kai's life points by eight hundred before forcing him to pay five hundred life points to shuffle it back into his deck. (KLP:5800)

"And now I've played another three magic cards, so both of my monsters have received three magic counters." he continued. "First off, Time Paladin will destroy your last Vorse Raider." This time, rather than using his sword, the magician waved his arms through the air, making various signs in the air. After a moment his hands froze and the remaining Vorse Raider exploded, leaving only Vorse Lord on Kira's field. "Guardian Magician of the Future allows me to sacrifice three magic counters to increase my life points by an amount equal to the attack power of a monster in my graveyard, which will then be shuffled back into my deck. I, of course, choose Time Mage (2400)."

Taking the card from his graveyard, Kai shuffled it into his deck while his life points shot up by twenty-four hundred, easily putting him past double what he started out with. (KLP:8200)

"Turn end."

"Draw." Kira called and grimaced at the sight of the card Kai had placed on the top of his deck. It was useless. "I use Vorse Lord's special ability to summon my Cyber Vorse Raider (2200+500/1500) from my deck to the field." Next to the Vorse Lord appeared another monster of the same breed, only this one had thin metal armor and advanced circuitry could be seen through the joints.

"Cyber Vorse Raider, attack his Guardian Magician of the Future!" Lifting his right arm, palm open, the mechanical monster revealed a small gun barrel in his palm. Without warning of any kind a thin laser shout out and burned a hole in Kai's monster, destroying it.

'_He could have used Vorse Lord to take out both of my monsters, plus a direct attack, and then fired a direct attack with his Cyber Vorse Raider.'_ Kai commented to himself. _'Meaning Cyber Vorse Raider must have an effect that can only be activated when he destroys a monster.'_

"Now, since Cyber Vorse Raider destroyed a monster in battle, I get to draw a card. If it's level four or lower, it is instantly special summoned to my field." Kira explained, confirming Kai's theory. Drawing a card from his recently shuffled deck, he frowned, obviously not getting the low level monster he had hoped for. "Oh well, it's a card in hand nonetheless. Besides, Cyber Vorse Raider would have been useless any other way because all damage he deals is reduced to zero."

'_He escaped the lock I had set up so easily. This boy could become something great, which is why I hesitate. He's innocent, so what right do I have to take his soul, and possibly his future from him? But if I don't, that holds the others at a strict disadvantage in this battle with the Dark Guardians. Damn them! They've been sending innocent people partially blind against us to try and test our moral limits!'_

"Hey, you paying attention?" Kira barked, retrieving Kai's attention. With a nod, Kai encouraged the younger man to continue. "Alright, Vorse Lord, attack his Time Paladin and then attack his life points directly!"

Again spurring his mount, the apparent leader of this Vorse clan began his next attack. With a single slash he obliterated Kai's last monster before moving into a second strike without pause, this one directed at Kai.

In a feeble attempt to avoid the attack, Kai moved his body backwards, but wasn't able to catch himself and fell soundly onto his butt, wincing slightly. However, the damage was done and his life points more than cut in half. (KLP:3700)

"I set one card face down and end my turn." Kira concluded, again emptying his hand. As Kai drew to begin his turn, the young man activated the card he had just set, revealing a trap. "Vorse Crush destroys one card on your field for each card on my field with Vorse in its name. I have three, so I'll destroy your three Goddesses!"

Frowning, Kai watched as the three women shattered, leaving his field completely bare. "I'm sorry, Kira." he finally spoke.

"What for? The Seal has given me the last bit of power I needed to become stronger than you. I'm about to beat the world champion! What do you have to apologize to me for?" his young opponent laughed, not in mockery, but in joy, fully confident that it would all end as he had just described.

"Because I'm about to not only shatter your dreams against the rocks, but I'm also going to leave you on the precipice of life and death." Kai explained, his eyes trembling. "I once made a vow that I would protect the weak, but now it seems that in order to do that, I'll have to destroy someone who is weaker than I."

"What are you talking about?" Kira asked, confused by Kai's words.

"It's best if you don't know." Kai reassured, taking one of the cards from his hand. "Monster Reborn to revive Guardian Magician of the Future (1800/1500). Then Magical Interest to discard my hand and then draw double the number of cards I discard." he began as he threw out his two cards and drew four new cards, while at the same time the young mage reappeared. Taking one of his drawn cards, he flipped it around, revealing a common magic card.

"Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Vorse Hound, who is considered a magic card, currently." he continued, and a spiral of wind erupted from his duel disk, striking the hound and blowing it away, barely missing the Vorse Lord (3900), who had leapt from his mount at the last minute. Still he was left weakened.

"Next I play Magic of Revival to special summon Time Paladin (1900/1800) from my graveyard." Next to the young magician appeared the mystical sword wielder. "Now I'll remove the three magic counters from Guardian Magician of the Future to increase my life points by the attack points of my Tempus-Archmage of Fate (2200/1600) that I discarded when I played Magical Interest." (KLP:5900)

"What's the point of all this? Just trying to buy yourself another turn, like you did last time?" Kira asked, a look of perplexity on his face.

"No, I am ending this duel." Kai responded. "You've played very well, Kira. I have little doubt that had we met at a tournament that you could have pushed me much harder, and I you. However, I can't afford to just drag this duel out, and I can't afford to let you win. It ends now!" Picking the two monsters off of his duel disk, he slapped one of his two remaining cards from his hand onto his field.

In place of the two monsters was now a man in silver-blue robes with a gold staff in his hands. He did not touch the ground, instead levitating in the air, looking down on Kira and his monster. In his eyes there was a certain depth that seemed endless, like small black holes, only sapphire in color, lacking the appearance of complete doom, but instead holding a look of judgment.

"Behold my Eternity Mage (2700/2700)!"

"Impressive monster, but it's not nearly strong enough to beat my Vorse Lord." Kira rebuffed, sounding unafraid, despite the new monsters obvious majesty.

"Not yet, but now I activate my final magic card, Spell Accounting!" Kai shouted. "For every two hundred life points I pay I may generate one magic counter to a monster on my field. So I will pay forty-six hundred life points to generate twenty-three magic counters to Eternity Mage!"

As Kai's life points dropped drastically, several dots of light seemed to flow from him into his monster, causing the aura around his creature to glow with a greater intensity. (KLP:1300) It was so bright that it forced all but Kai and Tenken to turn away and shield their eyes.

"Now, Eternity Mage, attack Vorse Lord!" twirling his staff rapidly, the mage focused his magic to the crescent moon at the head of the pole, firing a beam of immense power at Kira's monster, who responded by crossing his weapons in front of him, stopping the attack. However, even though the attack did not actually touch Vorse Lord, it did still push him back, even as he dug his heels into the ground. Of course, all present understood that this was merely for dramatic effect, and sure enough, the heavy-armored brute snapped his arms out, causing the beam of energy to crack, leading back to the source, where it exploded, engulfing Kai's monster in blue flames. (KLP:100)

"Well that was pointless." Kira commented. "Did you become champion making that sort of bonehead move?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." Kai declared. "Eternity Mage special ability number one: I sacrifice five magic counters to reduce your monsters attack by his attack total, meaning your monster now only has thirteen hundred life points."

As Kai explained this, Kira noticed that his monster was panting heavily, clearly exhausted from the struggle with Kai's monster. Not only that, but his weapons were now chipped and cracked from taking the brunt of Eternity Mage's attack. Kira was about to say something, but was cut off by Kai.

"Eternity Mage's special ability number two, I sacrifice two magic counters when he would be destroyed to keep him in play." Instantly the blue flames that had engulfed the mage dissipated with a single wave of the magicians hand. All Kira could do was watch in both awe and confusion. And still Kai wasn't going to give him the chance to ask questions. "Eternity Mage's final ability: I give up three of his magic counters to allow him to attack again!"

With another twirl of his staff, the mage fired a blast of magic at Vorse Lord, this time burning him to ash without any trouble. (KiLP:2200) Next the mage turned to Kira's Cyber Vorse Raider and fired another blast, obliterating Kira's last monster, though because of said monsters effect, Kira's life points were safe. However, it was obvious what Kai planned on doing. His monster still had ten magic counters, and only one more attack was needed.

Without waiting for the command, the mage fired the final blast, striking Kira in the chest, knocking him onto his back. (KiLP:0)

"That was quite the duel." the younger man said from his position on the ground. "Now I just need to train to get stronger an-what the hell!" he shouted as ne noticed the green walls of the Seal of Orichalcos closing around him. "What's happen-" but he would never be allowed to finish his question, as he was stripped of his soul at that point.

Hanging his head, Kai said the only thing he could think to say, "I'm sorry."

Silence was the only response.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day found Kai, Etsu, Vaun, and Nick all in a circle around Tenken and Asagi, the latter having finally awoken early that morning, her energy fully restored. Now was the time for swift actions. They had to make their move before they could be interrupted.

"Kai, are you ready?" Tenken asked, though no sense of worry was in his voice. Nodding, Kai stepped into the circle somewhat. In response Tenken placed his palm on Kai's head, chanting in some unknown dialogue. Seconds later Kai's eyes snapped wide open, filling with a white light. Seconds later, the others felt their vision will with intense light, completely blinding them from the rest of the world. Seconds later they all went rigid, as if catatonic.

Turning to Asagi, Tenken gave her a somber look and sighed deeply. He had forced the memories that had been stored within Kai to come to the surface and then to spread to each other Guardian.

"Now I don't need to worry about them. They'll be fine." he told his sister. Then he spoke as if to the air itself when he said, "I'm ready. You can come out now."

Out of the shadows themselves stepped two men, one in a black cloak, his features completely hidden, while the other was a young man who looked to be about the same age as Tenken, with blonde hair braided down his back and a red shirt and jeans, and a duel disk.

"Tenken Arashi, Vanguard of the Court of Eternity." the man in black grinned wickedly. "Shall we begin?"

_To Be Continued..._

_Next Time-While Kai and the others are met with the puzzles which are the memories passed down through thousands of years, Tenken if called to the forefront of the battle field to defend the Guardians during their state of vulnerability. But what is meant when he is called a Vanguard?_

_Next Time-Wrath of the Guardian Goddess_

There you have it. Another chapter, with an exciting (hopefully) duel. Next I will try and work a bit on _Way of the Dreamer_, since that's well overdo for an update. Plus I need to do a bunch of work on Tenken's deck before I can write the next chapter of this story, so in the meantime, look forward to more in the life of Kazuki Katsura.

Damn, It spent a lot of time making up a bunch of Vorse Raider cards, and I only used about a third of them. I didn't even use the two most powerful monsters in the deck. But, meh, it doesn't matter, since Kai got to use Eternity Mage once again, and I do love that card.

I would like to thank Seeker of the Soul for creating Super Vorse Raider and, in doing such, inspiring that deck as well. Have some kudos!

As always, original cards are by either myself, Seeker, or G.O.T.Nick. No touchy!

Have a good weekend everybody. See ya.


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